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Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others
Hearing Loss | Last Active: 2 days ago | Replies (1517)Comment receiving replies
@julie04 @tarheel I believe most states have laws that you must be given a trial period when you are purchasing hearing aids. My current hearing aids are in for refurbishing, I guess that's normal after 3 years (they're Oticon OpnS1), but I was also having an issue with one of them not being able to hold the wax guard in, it kept falling out. I thought when she looked into my ear canal there would be pile of them in there but she said there were not any. 😉 I was at my audiologist today and asking her about the latest Opn. She prefers a Phonak but said when I am ready to purchase she will order both for me so I can trial each and decide which works best for me.
I have been going to her for a long time so she knows me well enough to know that I am not about to run out on her.
At one point I went to a renowned audiologist at the Center for Hearing and Communication in NYC because my daughter was a grant-writer there and highly respected this audiologist. She wanted to prescribe Widex but when I told her that my audiologist does not work with Widex she changed to Phonak. I think all of those brands are great, along with ReSound. My daughter has ReSounds now and says they are her all time favorite HAs. It really depends on which works best for each individual.
JK
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You are correct. MOST states require at least a 30 day trial period; some even 60 days. It's important to read the fine print. Some trusted providers are lenient on that and will give their patients more support than others will. I've been fortunate too, as my audiologist tried very hard to fit me with a particular brand that was compatible with my cochlear processor. We worked on that for over two months. I ended up going back to the Widex brand that was working best for me. It's definitely an individual experience. Next time I'm going to work harder to adjust to the ReSound aids as I know they have improved since my trial time. It always surprises me that there is such a difference in products, but I know our brains tend to acclimate to hearing as they are 'trained' to be, so changing can be challenging. Definitely an individual thing. The two most important pieces in the hearing aid journey are: 1. To have a provider who is willing take time to make it right for you and 2. To help ourselves by trying those new hearing instruments in every possible setting during our trial period while keeping notes about the experiences so those can be shared with the provider.