Do I need a hearing aid?

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Rikkitic

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#303428 9-Feb-2023 16:28

I have what I believe is normal age-related hearing loss. If I am sitting with someone, indoors or out, I can conduct a normal conversation and hear what they are saying to me without much problem. If there is a lot of ambient noise, I have a hard time understanding what is being said.

I hear news people and announcers on TV without any problem. I can also usually follow dialogue without much trouble. Films are difficult for me and I miss a lot, especially where speech is rapid. Sometimes when out and about I may miss something from a waiter or similar and have to ask them to repeat it. My hearing does not cause me enough problems to make me feel I need to do anything about it but I know it is sub-par.

One thing I don’t have any trouble hearing is all the hearing aid commercials on TV. Why are those things so obscenely expensive? Surely it can’t be manufacturing costs, even with that degree of miniaturisation.

Do I need a hearing aid? I sometimes use closed captions for TV and I have headphones connected to it though I rarely use them. What confuses me is I know one cause of hearing loss is being blasted with loud sound all the time, like kids with ear buds playing music or gaming. How can hearing aids be a good thing then since they are just blasting even louder sound into the dying ear? Won’t this just make things worse in the long term?

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

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#3034154 9-Feb-2023 16:46

Most hearing aid places do a free assessment, go do one of those. I think somewhere like CostCo in Auckland are a lot cheaper for hearing aids than most places.

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#3034157 9-Feb-2023 16:59

I know two people who got hearing aids and won’t wear them because they find them tiring as they hear too much. They liken removing them to taking off shoes at the end of a tiring day. One has a cheaper version and the other has a $10k version. Both have had them adjusted but simply don’t like them. Personally I would go down the least expensive route to begin with in case similar happens.

This is a great website with heaps of information. Maybe the EarPods route would be an inexpensive option to start with but you would need an Apple phone which if you bought an older one plus pods it would still be way less than hearing aids.

https://www.hearingtracker.com/hearables/airpods-pro-2

Edited to fix url

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#3034158 9-Feb-2023 16:59

When I had my glasses done at Specsavers, they did a free hearing check - apparently I didn't need any help with my hearing, despite also having trouble where there's ambient noise.

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Rikkitic

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#3034159 9-Feb-2023 17:01

All a hearing aid place will do is tell me my hearing is sub-optimal, which I already know, and pressure me to buy an expensive hearing aid, which I don't want or need. I am mainly wondering how others in a similar situation feel about it. Do I actually need a hearing aid if I don't feel it is a problem. I do hear okay for most things.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

johno1234

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#3034160 9-Feb-2023 17:05

I guess you were inspired to post by the other thread about hearing aids, @Rikkitic ?

It sounds like you would benefit from HAa. I certainly have, very much. I have always been profoundly deaf in one ear. But with age, I have also lost some on the good side, particularly with high frequencies, which tends to make hard consonants sound all the same. This makes for difficulty distinguishing similar words. Background noises make it all much worse, especially for one sided listeners like me. I'm mostly OK in a small quiet room with one other person. Put me in a noisy crowded room and I'm hopeless and it can be very socially isolating. Now I have high tech digital HAs with Bluetooth that even send a signal from one side to the other with a little delay so my brain can learn to interpret a little bit of directional sense for the first time in my life.

I held off getting this sorted for a long time because the good HAs were so expensive - up around $9k. Now you can get this technology from Specsavers, and apparently Costco, and probably others, for around $3.5k once you take off the government $1k subsidy. If you qualify, you can get bigger subsidies. The audiologists can explain that.

So my recommendation is you find a local audiologist and get tested. Hopefully there will be a Specsavers one (or similar) and you can save a lot of money now.

Some in the other thread said the $500 upcharge for rechargeable is too much. It seems like a lot but at least I know that my HAs will always be available, no risk I will run out of batteries. I'd pay that extra again next time.

johno1234

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#3034162 9-Feb-2023 17:10

Eva888: I know two people who got hearing aids and won’t wear them because they find them tiring as they hear too much. They liken removing them to taking off shoes at the end of a tiring day. One has a cheaper version and the other has a $10k version. Both have had them adjusted but simply don’t like them. Personally I would go down the least expensive route to begin with in case similar happens.

This is a great website with heaps of information. Maybe the EarPods route would be an inexpensive option to start with but you would need an Apple phone which if you bought an older one plus pods it would still be way less than hearing aids.

[url]https://www.hearingtracker.com/hearables/airpods-pro-2[\url]

I expect all of the vendors these days allow a return for refund with no questions asked - Specsavers do. Some people just don't become accustomed to them for some reason. So there's no risk in trying it out.

Airpods are just not even close IME. Much more noticeable in the ear. Not nearly as good at differentiating sounds and so on.

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#3034163 9-Feb-2023 17:13

If your hearing per se is OK, it could be something to do with the way the brain is responding to background noise.

There's a recent article on the scitechdaily.com website that addresses research in this area - it's entitled Johns Hopkins Discovers New Path to Treating Age-Related Hearing Loss – “There’s More to Hearing Than the Ear

If shown to be true, then I figure the research could also help people with tinnitus, which also seems to be related to some form of brain process that affects audio perception.

johno1234

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#3034164 9-Feb-2023 17:15

Rikkitic:

All a hearing aid place will do is tell me my hearing is sub-optimal, which I already know, and pressure me to buy an expensive hearing aid, which I don't want or need. I am mainly wondering how others in a similar situation feel about it. Do I actually need a hearing aid if I don't feel it is a problem. I do hear okay for most things.

I know what you mean. You get this at Specsavers Opticians a lot. However the Specsavers audiologist at Botany, Auckland was lovely and no pressure at all. If you don't like them or they're not working well, you have (I think) a month to return them for refund.

Here's the price range at SS. Column 3 is what you pay with the standard subsidy but some qualify for higher subsidies. https://www.specsavers.co.nz/hearing/hearing-aids/digital-hearing-range-and-prices

johno1234

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#3034168 9-Feb-2023 17:20

A couple of thoughts to add: one of the biggest beneficiaries of my HAs is my family. They were finding it quite frustrating and saddening that I was constantly not hearing them, and that they so often had to repeat things.

Another thing I haven't used but am thinking about, is a Bluetooth streamer for the TV. I just love that my phone* streams into the HAs which makes phone calls so easy to hear. That could be quite good with the TV as well. And then won't need to crank the TV volume up too.

* Hearing Aid support is very good on iPhone. I never got Android to work and that caused me to switch over.

Eva888

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#3034177 9-Feb-2023 18:04

I have similar issues Rikkitic, can have a conversation and hear fine except for one person who speaks like Chinese whispers and at a certain pitch which is super irritating. TV if there is a lot of background music etc can miss bits and so often use captions. My problem appears to be the pitch. Like you I don’t want them at all because hearing is sufficient for my needs.

However I will consider getting some pods as per the link and see how they perform as a first step. The hearing technology especially via iPhone is improving in leaps so it’s an easy decision to have something that is multi purpose. It doesn’t bother me that they are visible. I’ll just look as if on an important call :) also they are not as tiny as aids and visible enough to find if they fall behind the sofa or get dropped in the grass.

It sounds like you are of a similar view and baulking both at the price and the irritation of having ears stuffed with a device, so don’t feel pressured and do it only if you really feel you are missing out on life.

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#3034178 9-Feb-2023 18:24

Could perhaps pick some up second hand as a bit of a trial to see if they are useful. If they're really helpful, then look at getting something more specific to you.

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johno1234

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#3034179 9-Feb-2023 18:30

RunningMan:
Could perhaps pick some up second hand as a bit of a trial to see if they are useful. If they're really helpful, then look at getting something more specific to you.

No need as the audiologists offer a free trial with suitable new HAs.

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#3034195 9-Feb-2023 19:14

Rikkitic:

which I don't want or need.

how can you say that when you really dont know if you need them or not.

Most modern ones have a tonne of customisable options for differing situations allowing you to turn down the sensitivity etc.

get some on a trial and see how they go. it may change your life for the better.

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#3034197 9-Feb-2023 19:15

sounds like the title of this exercise is "do i want a hearing aid?"

sounds like i have the same problem and my answer is not now

vexxxboy

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#3034212 9-Feb-2023 19:53

i thought i was fine without hearing aids but friends and family were getting really frustrated with me as i was yelling more and people were repeating things when talking to me. After getting hearing aids the main thing i found was that nature and outside was really loud and the tv was really loud where i had the volume set . I don't even know I'm wearing them now and if i dont wear them the world is dull and muffled and very depressing. if you need aids get them and learn what you have been missing.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

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