I'm completely new to the world of hearing aids. Advice please.

Posted by omegaman17 @omegaman17, Oct 28, 2021

I'm completely new to the world of hearing aids. I have one month left a Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance and I want to get a new hearing aid while I can. I am limited to a budget of $2500. I have tinnitus. I have tried my wife's hearing aids that she purchased at Cosco and I have two problems with them. The first is they don't feel very secure when I put them on. It feels like they could come off pretty easily. The second problem is I don't like the flimsy earphone piece that fits near the ear canal. It would seem to me that I could solve both of these problems if I could get a hearing aid in the old-style. A little bit larger with more of an earplug versus the two that points into the ear. Also the audio that comes through my wife's hearing aid seems a little scratchy and distorted. Any recommendations?

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@beryl2

FL Mary
You ask why I got my Phonaks if they were not much different than my Oticons. Basically I lost one of the Oticons during
my trial period for the Phonaks. It was at the beginning of mask wearing and I was not then as careful about pulling off my mask. The audi found a vendor but they wanted $600 for one 7 year old aid which I thought extortionate!

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@barbarat

Oh right, the mask wearing days..I was forever touching my ears. $600 for a 7 yr old hearing aid? No way...it should be free lol or no more than $100 tops

FL Mary

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Costco has cheap hearing aids I too ha tintinitis and no hearing aid totally removes tintinitis Mine were 6800 from a private audiologist. At first it improved tintinitis but now it’s back to square one. She said it would take about 6/-8 months to retrain my brain to accept tintinitis. It’s been 4 months but I hear better.

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Not new to hearing problems. Tried Eargos in the past. Not doable. About 15 months ago I purchased Phonax through my audiologist. They go around my ear but feel more secure. With my tinnitus I find it’s pretty much blocked when other sounds are happening ie tvTry not to remove them until ready for bed. My aids are not perfect in certain environments or someone’s speaking very quickly. Hope this has helped some. Feel free to respond. Carole

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I have owned 4 sets of hearing aids over the past 20 years. All from different manufacturers. What I learned is this: be specific on what you need - quiet environment or church choir singing or phone calls that you hear via the hearing aids. This will point you to type and manufacturer, I now have a set that connects to an App on my iPhone so I can modify some parameters for various situations. Final note: after 25 years my tinnitus is still loud and present. Nothing helps.

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@pdray

I have owned 4 sets of hearing aids over the past 20 years. All from different manufacturers. What I learned is this: be specific on what you need - quiet environment or church choir singing or phone calls that you hear via the hearing aids. This will point you to type and manufacturer, I now have a set that connects to an App on my iPhone so I can modify some parameters for various situations. Final note: after 25 years my tinnitus is still loud and present. Nothing helps.

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What are your hearing aids?

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@bruceandruth1970

What are your hearing aids?

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I started with NuEar then Starkey and now have Beltone

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@pdray

I started with NuEar then Starkey and now have Beltone

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Thanks. I haven’t tried those. I have Oticon and I am having trouble with clarity.

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@pdray

I started with NuEar then Starkey and now have Beltone

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I have starky. Are Beltone better for tintinitis

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I have not found any hearing aid technology that help with tinnitus.

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@imallears

@bruceandruth1970

I think I will remember but perhaps you will give me a nudge towards end of August…if you remember lol.

FL Mary

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Mary, just now getting back to you about your visit in August. What did you think of the audiologist you used?

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