Hi Stites. I wish you all the best in treating your hearing loss and tinnitus. There is no quick solution to any of this.

I consider hearing aids like glasses. Now that I'm retired, my insurance (Medicare and supplemental I chose) will not cover hearing or vision so I will be paying out of pocket. I'm planning ahead and setting aside money for these. I need more than readers for vision so I see an optometrist for periodic checks and changes in my prescription for lenses. While Amazon or Costco might be an inexpensive way to try out a hearing aid, it's not the best option. Sorry if I'm preaching here, but I do feel strongly that our vision and hearing are so important for our quality of life. Did you know that there is evidence published in peer-reviewed journals that hearing loss over time affects our working memory (short term memory)? Makes sense. If we can't hear very well, we miss information and cannot store the information in our minds and brains. If you can afford to see an audiologist, at least for a consult, I'd highly recommend that. My binaural hearing aids are made by Oticon and cost $3000. That's not as expensive as I thought they would be for good digital hearing aids. My audiologist includes 6 month checks at no additional charge, and gave me a year's supply of batteries. Like an optometrist, only an audiologist is trained to test and prescribe.

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