Hearing Aid Adjustment

Posted by neil10 @neil10, Mar 28, 2021

I have a pair of Costco K8.0 hearings aids. Due to Covid I am stuck in Europe thousands of miles from any Costco. One of the aids has gone very quiet with barely any sound amplification. It may be the unit or could be my hearing in that ear has significantly diminished. Given that these aids are somewhat generic (Siemens?) is it likely that a local audiologist can identify any problem and adjust the amplification?

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@neil10

I am not having much success finding a local audiologist to reprogram my Costco K8.0 Rextons. I may have to fly to Southampton! However a very helpful local said that more sophisticated hearing aids that can be controlled via an IPhone (as mine are) can sometimes be reprogrammed remotely via the IPhone. She can provide the necessary audiogram and said that this approach is becoming more popular in the Covid era. Wow! Does anyone have any related knowledge?

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My only knowledge is that it did work for me. I have Oticon HA and I downloaded an app called Oticon Care and my audiologist was able to adjust my HA remotely. We connected by iPhone on a video call and it only took a few minutes. Results were successful.

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@neil10

I am not having much success finding a local audiologist to reprogram my Costco K8.0 Rextons. I may have to fly to Southampton! However a very helpful local said that more sophisticated hearing aids that can be controlled via an IPhone (as mine are) can sometimes be reprogrammed remotely via the IPhone. She can provide the necessary audiogram and said that this approach is becoming more popular in the Covid era. Wow! Does anyone have any related knowledge?

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@neil10 My Resound Linx3D's can be programmed remotely. I bought my hearing aids from an audiologist whose practice closed. I went to a different audiologist and they had to set up an account with Resound on behalf of me in order for them to be able to provide remote programming (I had to do this with my first audiologist too). Once the account is setup, you get a message on your phone and you have to accept an agreement before the programming can happen. All requests for programming comes from your phone app. If your aids have remote programmability, you should be able to navigate through your app to see if there is something where you can send a request. For mine, the section of the app is called "Resound Assist".
This brings up one of the issues when you buy through a large discount chain such as Costco. Yes, you are most likely getting a name brand hearing aid for a good deal, but the manufacturer cuts a deal with that chain and certain features, such as remote programmability, may not be an option. Sometimes you may not be able to have a telecoil option or the capability of recharging. It's best to know exactly what you want before considering buying a hearing aid. Unfortunately, people rely on an audiologist to be their best advocate. This is not how the real world functions though.
I'm not surprised that your local audiologist was not able to tell you if your aids can be programmed remotely or if they would even be able to do it. If I were your audiologist, and I wasn't certain, I would explain that I would be willing to work with you under the pretense that I may be unsuccessful. It would be a learning process for both of us. You wouldn't mind paying some money just to have an answer (and thus know that going to Costco is your ONLY option) and I wouldn't mind since I'm getting paid to learn and to at least try to help you. The local audiologist SHOULD have done more to help.
Tony in Michigan

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@tonyinmi

@neil10 My Resound Linx3D's can be programmed remotely. I bought my hearing aids from an audiologist whose practice closed. I went to a different audiologist and they had to set up an account with Resound on behalf of me in order for them to be able to provide remote programming (I had to do this with my first audiologist too). Once the account is setup, you get a message on your phone and you have to accept an agreement before the programming can happen. All requests for programming comes from your phone app. If your aids have remote programmability, you should be able to navigate through your app to see if there is something where you can send a request. For mine, the section of the app is called "Resound Assist".
This brings up one of the issues when you buy through a large discount chain such as Costco. Yes, you are most likely getting a name brand hearing aid for a good deal, but the manufacturer cuts a deal with that chain and certain features, such as remote programmability, may not be an option. Sometimes you may not be able to have a telecoil option or the capability of recharging. It's best to know exactly what you want before considering buying a hearing aid. Unfortunately, people rely on an audiologist to be their best advocate. This is not how the real world functions though.
I'm not surprised that your local audiologist was not able to tell you if your aids can be programmed remotely or if they would even be able to do it. If I were your audiologist, and I wasn't certain, I would explain that I would be willing to work with you under the pretense that I may be unsuccessful. It would be a learning process for both of us. You wouldn't mind paying some money just to have an answer (and thus know that going to Costco is your ONLY option) and I wouldn't mind since I'm getting paid to learn and to at least try to help you. The local audiologist SHOULD have done more to help.
Tony in Michigan

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To be fair to the local audiologist she was very friendly and helpful. I had no idea that remote programming might even be possible until she mentioned it. Her suggestion was that she do an audiogram and send it off to Costco. She obviously was not aware that she might be able to remotely program a specific brand Rexton that she was not familiar with. Since then I have also seen a reference that Costco do do remote programming but it may not be on their house brand or even in all markets! I’m still working on it.

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Talked to a Costco hearing centre. They can remotely program K9.0s but not K8.0s. They will get back to me with an opinion on whether they could successfully reprogram if I sent them the hearing aid and a current audiogram. I don’t see why not but they are the experts!

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