What's One Thing You'd Change in Getting Hearing Aids?

I regret my audiologist- she just wanted awards. Found out when I change to Penn care that she was not a well rounded audiologist. This means, she never did noise in speech testing. What a difference it’s made in evaluating what I need . They also understood who/ what I am. They would assess differently if I was in an office world. I am retired and my needs are different. Incredible team. I am to get a cochlear implant next year. Dr Brant knew I need to hear more music with my aids. He conceded other than sale reps at the convention at cochlear implants companies that it will effect my quality of hearing music .

@hearingpeg I have to give you 2 things. The first is to ask if the hearing aid had a telecoil. I assumed it did, turned out my audiologist was selling me an aid that I believe she got comped on, not what I wanted and asked for. The second is make sure it can handle basic moisture and sweat. My Starkey Halo's are horrible. I can't go outside in 80 degree weather and weed for 20 minutes without one of the aids starting to crackle because sweat got inside. I should have tested its use in warm weather while I had my 30 day trial but didn't think of it. Good luck.

Stay away from starkey. Nothing but negative reports on them. Wow my 17 year old pair of resound handles all situations. Folks and hearing aids are wimpy nowadays

Hey - wimpy may be a kind word but have your looked out there with all of the advertisement for hearing aids and heairing loss gizmos? Who wouldn't be worried about all of the 'stuff' coming at us for the number #3 invisible disability in the U.S. It's a free market out there and anything and everything is available for those who suspect they can't hear well but don't want to admit it. The statistics show there are many of us. And in order to function in our fast paced life - we have to "have the latest" out-of-sight and out of mind devices which is not entirely true. Our world doesn't treat hearing loss like it should - like they treat vision problems. Of course the two are very different and should not be compared. They may be located in our head and are both sensory organs but they both do very different functions for us. Our government got that mixed up years ago. So, we need to correct that stigma associated with hearing loss and help each other show them a thing or two. It may take a while but if you like your hearing professional - tell them. If you like your tools/aids/CIs - tell your audiologist/hearing specialists so that they can inform the manufacturers. IT works to our advantage and theirs too.

For those who live in the tropical states - any electrical device / tool may not like the humidity or wet weather we have. There are special protectors you can get to cover your aids so that you can wear them and still not have them go snap/crackle/pop. I have them and use them when I travel if not using an umbrella. Check this out here: at Amazon https://www.amazon.com/s?k=hearing+aid+protectors&crid=2KIX0HPDJXDA6&sprefix=hearing+aid+protecto%2Caps%2C157&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_20
or at https://www.harriscomm.com/equipment/hearing-aid-products.html

I live in Florida, and I bought something called "Hearing Aid Sweat Bands" that are similar. Sorry I don't remember where but a google should turn them up if they are still in business.

Moisture mixed with salt is a deadly combination for all electric and electronic devices. Fortunately the aids seem to do better than I expected.

Bob

What would I change?

I'd have audiologists carry demo models of the latest versions of the top 3 or 4 rated brands, program them for you, and let you try them out a week at a time and let you find out what works best for you.

My latest audiologist likes Oticon, and recommended them. I'm happy with them, but would another brand be even better? She says she can get any brand but she likes Oticon the best. Does that mean she is getting an incentive? Or does it mean she fell prey to B2B ads? Or does she really believe in all cases Oticons are better than the others? And a dozen other questions come to mind.

I had an in-law that owned a retail sales store so I know all about (a) sell what you have in stock and (b) If I sell enough of Acme brand Widgets I can get an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii. Even the salesperson who wants to please his or her customer with the best intentions has these things in the back of the brain.

>>>>> How do I know that when I spend more than $6,000.00 that hearing brand/model "A" will work for me better than brand "B" or "C"? I think that is the question I really want to know the answer to. <<<<<

Bob

The next time around I will want Bluetooth to stream music from my phone while walking and to have the ability to send calls directly from my phone to the aids. Right now this is not super important since I’ve retired and can live without it, but in new aids I’d definitely want that along with a T-coil, as I have now, to take advantage of Hearing Loops in airports, etc.
More important than new aids is to find an audiologist who cares more about the patients needs than the profit they’re making off the aids. I have an 8 year old pair that work fine. I’ve recently visited the Hearing Clinic at UCONN, had the aids tweaked, and walked away hearing better than I have in years. When the time comes to replace these I’ll feel comfortable with my choice, instead of being rushed into a purchase just because they happen to be old, but perfectly functional now. I would recommend anyone go to their local university that has a hearing clinic. You’ll get an honest opinion from someone that’s not so profit driven, who’s skilled in the latest technology.

So sorry you had a bad time with Doctors. I just had the implant on my right side for my hearing aid. Before they did the implant they put the hearing aid on the back of my head and wow I was able to hear really great from my right ear. So I'm looking forward in having the left side done next month. I've had bad hearing since I was 5 I'm now 61 and I'm happy as a kid with a lollypop. I went to the mayo Clinic in Jax FL and they are helping me greatly and they call the surgery BAHA and so I get my hearing aid 15 of August and second surgery Aug 26 , so my other hearing aid I'll get it in oct after I heal from surgery. It takes about 6 to 8 weeks for recovery but that ok being able to hear will be great. I hope it turn out ok for you good luck it has helped me

The one thing I would do is not get hearing aids. Yes, I had a mild hearing loss. Yes, it was difficult to understand some people. Yes, I had some tinnitus. After hearing aids, my hearing loss has progressed to profound in 3 years, and my tinnitus is so loud it prevents me from sleeping. Every audiologist I see, just shrugs and says the aids are working fine. My hearing with hearing aids is less than it was before hearing aids. I can no longer go to concerts, church services, sporting events, or any type of social gathering because the loud noises at these places are very painful, even without my hearing aids. ALL music is out as it sounds tinny and out of tune. I have had to quit the church choir and the band I was part of for 30 years. Conversations I used to have a hard time hearing are now not just hard, but impossible. I can no longer hunt or fish or enjoy the outdoors. My co-workers have withdrawn from me because I have to continually ask them to repeat what they said. Meetings are a horror. Movies are impossible. TV is a waste of time unless I just want to watch sporting events without hearing the commentary. My family thinks I am crazy and is trying to get me to go see a mental health professional. What do I regret - getting hearing aids.