How do I choose the best hearing aids?

I had a eustatian tube dysfunction which was treated with a new balloon procedure. I wonder if that could help you?

Unfortunately,, I do NOT have a smart phone or any kind of cell phone. I would never use it,, and I'm not up on all technology ....I just use the Internet and that's it...I have a big computer, with a big monitor and a keyboard..that I've had for years.
I wouldn't know how to do any app stuff....Thanks for the advice though.

Hi ,,,I am seeing a new ENT,,,and he does that procedure... He first put in regular little ear tubes for me to see if that helped....but it doesn't seem to. So i see him again , and we'll talk about it...He said the balloon procedure only works 60% of the time...and they can close back up.....How did your's work. Do you hear better now?

@cralex43, you can purchase an inexpensive "unlocked" Android phone but not use it as a phone, per se. No monthly fees! You would only need to download the Otter app and you'd have the device that you're looking for. You would need to be in an internet hot spot or have Wi-Fi to get the app. Internet is not needed after that. If you have a Best Buy store around you, they would be able to help you with selecting a phone and could download the Otter app for you, most likely. I have an Android phone that is only used for speech to text. At the time, I only paid $50 for the phone, from Best Buy, and have never used it to make phone calls.
Tony in Michigan

In response to Tony's post about speech-to-text apps:
I switched to a Samsung android phone just to get Live Transcribe when it was fairly new. At the time, I often was involved in technical meetings and wanted a way to "see" what people were saying. The app does save the entire meeting so that you can review it, which IS helpful. However, I found that I became more confused trying to read the delayed words on my phone, both because I wasn't watching the speaker and because the phone was always a bit behind what was being said. By the time I figured out what had been said, the group was moving on to another thought, and it was too late to ask questions about what had been said earlier. I gave up and went back to watching speakers carefully in order to hear and guess as well as possible. That seems to work better for me.

Now, I'm thinking of switching back to the old IPhone I set aside because its GPS function is better than that of the Samsung, which loses its ability to know exactly where it is when there's no reception. With the IPhone, I can mark specific places while I'm doing a survey of a mile or more. I don't know if it's the phone itself or the app, but the old IPhone continues to "know" where it is. Cell phones remain somewhat of a mystery to me, as I live where there's zero reception. That means that the only time mine is useful is when I'm out and about, concentrating on keeping aware of what's going on around me--not the time to experiment with the phone's capabilities. Not having cell reception is as misunderstood as not being able to hear!

Tony,,,THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT ADVICE....REALLY....I live near a Best Buy store,,and I most definitely will go in person to see about this....that would be great....You were so much help,,,and hopefully,,the people there will be able to set it up with apps and stuff..and show me how to use it.....I am truly thankful for this news...Carol

Report on new Kirkland aids from Costco: I have Meniere's and, due to the recruitment which is part of the Meniere's delightful pkg., my right ear was declared unaidable about 35 years ago. Four years ago, I bought an aid at Costco due to age-related hearing loss in my "good" left ear. Two years ago, the disease went bilateral, and I spent nearly a year virtually deaf as I couldn't tolerate wearing the aid in my "good" ear due to recruitment. Two weeks after having found a local doc willing to prescribe large doses of hormones, the former hearing level returned to my "good" ear and most of the recruitment was gone. It occurred to me that, if the recruitment was gone in one ear, it might have gone in the unaidable ear, so I scheduled a hearing test at Costco, which confirmed my thinking.
Last Tuesday, the new Kirkland aids were ready, and they've made a HUGE difference! As I had expected, I can now tell where sound is coming from because I'm hearing with both ears (which is still strange after decades of silence on the right). My first reaction when the tech turned the aids on was that she didn't need to shout in the soundproof booth. <g> My real hope is that hearing with both ears (even though the right doesn't hear nearly as much or as well) will help with speech discrimination. The Costco tech says I might benefit from scheduling an appt. with a speech pathologist, which is next on my list. For Thanksgiving I drove for a couple of hours to reach my daughter's house. The engine noise and road noise were bothersome, as I'd been driving in a very quiet vehicle. At one point, on a four-lane stretch of highway, a car passed me on the left--and I could actually HEAR that car! Walking out to my car after dinner, a plane went overhead, and, for the first time in nearly 40 years, I immediately looked at where it was in the sky! When I first take my aids out at bedtime, I have almost no tinnitus, although it does return later. However, I've not had the acoustic hallucinations that I've had every night, which is a great improvement.
So, it's always a good idea to ask for a new hearing test if there's a chance your situation has changed. I'm not the only person who's gained the ability to hear from a long-deaf ear at this Costco, either. Hearing aids keep improving, and the price keeps going down, especially with OTC aids coming: I paid $1,600 for the single aid four years ago, but only $1,400 for the pair last week--they had been $1,900 three weeks ago but Costco dropped the price in anticipation of the competition from OTC aids. An additional "goodie" is that this pair of aids is rechargeable. Of course, since I haven't worn an aid before in my right ear, it's still a little sore from having the dome in it, but I know that will go away in another week or so. Last year, the tech replaced the small dome in the aid in my left ear with a much larger one that concentrates sound directly into my ear, and it seemed very uncomfortable for a couple of weeks, but I soon didn't really feel it at all.
WHAT A NOISY WORLD IT IS!!!!

Many of my hearing impaired friends and family will not consider visiting the Costco Hearing Aid Center opting instead to pay up to $8,000 for a pair. Thank you for sharing your experience and wonderful news about your improved hearing treatment.

I'm sure that care varies from one Costco to another, but the Salem, Oregon Costco offers superb care. The main tech there (not an audi) knows more than not only two audis I've seen recently but the surgeon at the CI center. This is because she cares about her patients and goes out of her way to learn about new apps and all diseases related to hearing. It costs nothing to go there and get a hearing test: there's absolutely no commitment to buy anything. Further, all followup appts. cost nothing, unlike many audis who charge every time you cross their threshold. When you mention "Meniere's" (a terribly difficult disease to diagnose, and even harder to treat), many audis have a blank look on their faces, but the Costco tech has taken the time to learn a great deal about this devastating disease.

A big advantage of buying/trying Costco is their 6 month trial period. Most providers allow 30 days with a few offering 60, sometimes depending on state law. It would be interesting to know how many hearing aids are returned during that trial period. It is important to know though, that some types of hearing loss can be caused by medical conditions that can worsen if not diagnosed and treated properly.