A friend of ours had a cochlear implant done and wishes he'd been able to have had it many years before. He can hear clearly and with none of the problems often associated with hearing aids.
I have lost one of my hearing aids. Of course, it is the one for the ear with the most hearing loss. It is a glasses, mask, hearing aid mistake I am sure. I have searched the car once, where I am sure it fell off when removing glasses and mask. It is so tiny I shall make another search later today. Fingers crossed.
I saw this thread pop up. My scepticism is rewarded with very positive things in terms of what these things do: they set them for my severe area of hearing loss, and they don't amplify the part of the hearing spectrum I do hear normally. They're a very small insert into the ear. They connect automatically to the cellphone: I no longer have to use earphones (couldn't talk on a phone without), and they also connect to computer and TV audio, again only ampliflying what I don't hear. They are marvellous. My wife says I'm happier with other people, and more social because of them. I agree.
These are on a trial. The cost is $7200. This is totally user-pay here, there is no insurance, no coverage by public health for hearing aides. (The conservative gov't stopped funding in 2017.) I'm going to have to understand warranty and replacement time frame.
[rant]
Canada: you can see a doctor and go to a hospital via medicare. Almost everything else is not funded: eye exams, hearing, dentist, physical therapy (outside of a hospital, only funded after surgery), psychological therapy and non-medication mental health care, prescription medication, crutches. With partial coverage at the lowest possible option for things like wheelchairs and casts for broken bones.
[/rant]
Those look to be about $800 dollars more than mine. I could get free ones on the NHS, but I'm at an age when I've paid for my house, have all the household goods I'll ever needs, wardrobes of clothes etc - what better to spend money on?
Just learned that my elderly mother has just got fancy new bluetooth hearing aids. She has hers paired to the TV, so she can hear the TV without having it louder than Dad wants. I haven't asked about synchronization between the hearing aid and the sound from the TV itself, but I'm guessing it's OK.
Graven Image I do hope you find it. I have found that the only way I feel safe taking my mask off is by putting a finger on my hearing aid and disentangling the elastic from behind my ear with the other hand. I have been known to scream loudly when I can't find my hearing aid because it is buried in my hair, which is a bit embarrassing.
Are there people around that you could ask to help you look? I know you have shifted to a new place, but even relative strangers may be willing when they realise how dependent you are on them.
NP, none of the things you list are paid for here either, unless the need for them is the result of an accident. Every 6 years I can claim $1000 towards the cost of a new pair of hearing aids, and I do get subsidized GP visits because of receiving only Government Superannuation, which is less than the minimum wage. Also because I am over 65 I also get 10% off dental treatment, but that is not a government subsidy, but a commercial decision by my dentist. The plumber I use also offers this.
Possible COVID impact aside, the biggest two areas of desperate need here are the housing market and children living in poverty. Personally I would give up my hearing aid subsidy and the winter fuel allowance if the government could sort out either or both of these problems.
My rant is in the context of a Canadian federal election. We vote in a month. Prescription drug coverage and $10 per day child care are on the agenda. I think politics and people who get into it are/should be motivated by wanting to make people's lives easier. It isn't fair that because I can pay that I can make my life better but others can't.
At risk of too tangential, bus service was free for about 8 months early in the pandemic. The consequence as noted by the food agency that distributes free and low cost food here was that parents who walked to work were now at home longer with their kids.
I got my NHS aids a couple of months ago, and the first time I tried them, they seemed to block out too much: I was barely hearing traffic noise, which was rather disconcerting. When I tried them at work, I found I couldn't hear on the phone, which rendered them worse than useless.
However, when I got a call to ask how I was getting on, and told them, they called me in almost immediately and put a different kind of dome on them, which is a vast improvement.
I still don't use them as my default, as I find it convenient to be able to recharge my "posh" ones, but the other day, I hadn't connected one of them properly to the charger thingy, and it was out of juice, so I had to use the NHS ones and they were fine.
This has been a very interesting read. I was approached by Specsavers for a free test a while back, and the audiologist switched part way through into sales mode, which switched me off. I could see the graphic representation, which was the same as I used to get when I used the school visiting audiologist to check me, apart from not having the line which showed that I needed, or in that case did not need, an aid. (I used the school opportunity because there were children I could not hear well - the test showed it was their little voices, not my ears, back then.)
My friend can hear the TV when the volume is down below 10. I can't. And I sometimes can't hear him. However, I have a silly little thing which cost £9.99 which helps if things are really difficult! I suspect I need another test, but the NHS is using Specsavers, and I don't want to be railroaded into a private device at the cost which I see above.
GI, is your aid covered by insurance?
Because I am home alone I haven't been wearing my hearing aids. Today I mislaid my phone so I put in my aids so I could hear it ring when I used the other phone to find it. (both are very basic, but I discovered I needed a back up when my only phone died last lockdown).
I noticed that my mood lifted with my aids in - I think it was because I could hear the birds and other sounds in and around my house. I also found it easier to concentrate on what I was doing, even thought my tasks didn't involve sound.
I am not quite at the hearing aids level yet, but I Do know that if I start to feel low…..I have blocked ears.
Sadly seeing to our ears are not on the health centre’s list of options right now. And no way am I risking a high street pharmacy atm.
Yes, in general from my brief experience, the world is more engaging and I'm more cheerful with hearing better. I'm to return the testing model next week and write the Big Cheque to buy some next week. It doesn't seem right that those with money can get them only to which done of you allude.
I feel very much less intelligent without my hearing aids, though there are times (on a noisy train for instance) where being able to turn them off is a blessing.
Sarasa - entering shopping malls are the place are the place for immediate switch off. It's not just the volume of noise, it's the kind of echoing effect as well.
When this lockdown finishes I an going to approach my audiologist to have my aids turned up a bit more. As I get used to them I am gradually training myself to accept louder sounds, it's a journey of discovery which I am quite excited about.
NP, totally agree on the unfairness of it. Apparently here if you have a job where imperfect hearing could risk your life you can have them paid for similarly people who lost hearing due to industrial deafness (as it's called here) or an accident.
It feels so nice and helpful to see people discussing their hearing aids.
I'm a bit at sea at the moment. I was given a pair of NHS hearing aids from Specsavers about 6 months before lockdown. I live alone. Even without my hearing aids I hear friends speaking fine on my landline and on zoom. More recently I've had odd friends round for coffee, and that is fine too. As a result I haven't worn my hearing aids at all. (I wear infra red earphones when listening to the television and radio...)
Well, today I went to Specsavers to see the audiologist, because I'd tried my hearing aids when meeting a friend in a cafe for coffee, and I thought one of them wasn't working. Anyway, by the time I got to Specsavers they were both working perfectly.
Well.....the audiologist gave me a stern talk, which either amounted to the fact that if I don't wear my hearing aids 8 hours a day, everyday, they won't work for me, because my brain won't adapt to them. I think she was also hinting at dementia if I don't wear them 0_0, presumably on the basis that I will get cut off from social contact. Has anyone else been given advice along these lines?
This guide (pdf) from the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust mentions the importance of using hearing aids all the time (p.9) so that your brain adapts to the way the aids affect the sounds you hear.
I suspect most of us underestimate the brain’s involvement in processing sound. My guess is that it is similar to vision. Strikingly, with vision, wearing spectacles which turn what you see upside down will be automatically corrected by the brain in a couple of weeks or so. (It takes about the same length of time to reverse the process once you stop wearing them.) It seems that a similarly lengthy process is involved with hearing as well.
There’s loads about this on the internet, but I’ve tried to use sources that are mainstream and don’t have commercial interests in selling you anything.
We've been told the same, though I don't know whether the use ofother headphones etc. might not provide a similar benefit to hearing aids. I hope so, as Mr. Lamb refuses to wear his for more than an hour at a time, and spends much more time on headphones than hearing aids. My guess would be that anything that stimulates the hearing centers of the brain is going to be helpful, and living in silence is the thing you don't want. But though I'm a doctor, I'm not that kind.
@BroJames Thank you so much for that, and for the links too. What you said about the 'upside-down' spectacles really brings home the role of the brain in these matters. I haven't read the pdf yet but will look at it tomorrow morning. That was so incredibly helpful! Thank you.
@Lamb Chopped How nice to hear from you! Thank you also for your letting me know about your experiences. I share Mr. Lamb's distaste for wearing hearing aids, but the audiologist has made me think again, as have BroJames and your comments. Thank you, thank you!
I hope it goes well for you. I have a sense that the only thing to do is commit to them for a month or so, at whatever level the audiologist advises--and refuse to rethink it until that time is over. At least, that's what I have to do with obnoxious stuff like physical therapy...
I'm with Mr. Lamb - my hearing aids come out when I get home from work (partly because I don't yet have a TV*, so have nothing to hear). Mind you, they've been in for about 11 hours by that time, which may make a difference.
* I do plan to rectify this omission; I just haven't got round to it yet. If I do, and I don't want to inflict my viewing habits on my neighbours, the swearing aids hearing aids will have to stay in a bit longer.
@Lamb Chopped Great idea. Even I can do that... Thanks.
@Piglet My audiologist said I had to keep my hearing aids on for at least 8 hours a day for my brain to work with them properly. So it sounds like you are doing pretty well.
* I do plan to rectify this omission; I just haven't got round to it yet. If I do, and I don't want to inflict my viewing habits on my neighbours, the swearing aids hearing aids will have to stay in a bit longer.
My mother has recently acquired hearing aids which connect to the TV via bluetooth, and she's very pleased with them. It did necessitate an upgrade to the antique TV they had, to a new TV that could simultaneously output (with different volume levels) to two different audio devices.
Bumping this up to report that I’ve just arrived home with my new, replacement hearing aids; I lost one of the originals a few months ago whilst going for my COVID booster shot and it’s taken a while to sort out insurance etc. Like the old ones, they’re pretty basic entry level, so no bells and whistles, with one exception…they’re Bluetooth enabled so I can hear incoming calls in my ears! No more fiddling around with earbuds and connectors. 🙃
My life has been completely transformed by having Bluetooth enabled hearing aids @Miffy. I'm able to have proper conversations on the phone, and listen to podcasts, brilliant. The hearing aids just work better too, so I feel far more connected to the world and therefore far less stupid than I had been beginning to feel.
Sarasa, I don't yet need bluetooth capability, but I can understand your comment about feeling less stupid as I've had the experience of feeling stupid when I don't have my hearing aids on.
... and pretending to have heard what people said because it's too embarrassing to keep asking them to repeat or speak louder. The aids made a terrific difference!
Good to see all the positive reports on aids. Both my parents had trouble getting aids which worked, as did many of their acquaintances. Of course, that's some years ago now.
The technological improvements have been, and continue to be amazing, even in the 6 years between my purchase of aids (the NZ Government will contribute $1000 towards a pair every 6 years). I remember visiting my oldest brother at his work where one of the employees had two hearing aids - his progress through through building could be tracked by following the high pitched feedback between them.
Today I went to the audiologist because I had forgotten how to access the "loop" setting which allows me to access the telecoil in buildings that are fitted with the technology. My difficulty was because I had not been in a crowd and needed to hear a speaker for over 3 years because of Covid.
In a fortnight's time a previous Dean will be speaking at the Transitional Cathedral and I very much want to hear him talk about his new book, which I am currently reading. I rang the Cathedral and they do have the technology, which works best if I sit near the front - so I will go early and be prepared to be very politely pushy ( it's probably not the right place to have a tantrum. )
My son just helped me pair my hearing aids with my cell phone with blue tooth. WOW, big upgrade in hearing on the phone.
Mine are brilliant, though they have the habit of occasionally disconnecting when a call comes through, thus defeating the object of being hands-free .
Because I'm a bit of a dinosaur and don't really understand what Bluetooth is I didn't get it installed in my hearing aids, but now I'm wondering if it would improve the quality of sound in my audio-typing pods.
They operate voice files which are downloaded on my work desktop, and are controlled by foot-pedals the same as old-fashioned dictaphone tapes.
That would make sense right enough - and I have no idea if it does. I suspect not - as I say, the audio equipment (i.e. the wee buds that go into your ears) seems very similar to what I trained on forty-mumble years ago!
It does sound like that from your description, tho even if it were compatible, ditto your aids, I think there’s a limit (poss two devices?) that you can pair at any one time,
I had an outpatients appointment this morning, as which, to my surprise, I was given a hearing test. The result was not a surprise - I have some hearing loss. I was told I would be entitled to NHS hearing aids, and that if I got them I would have to wear them for most of the time.
As I wasn't expecting to get a hearing test, I had given no thought to this and didn't think of any of the questions I am now pondering.
I have three issues. The first is conversation when there is background music / general noise. I find it hard to pick out what is being said to me amongst the general sound. However, I'm only in this situation between once and three times a week, and never for long.
The second is whilst watching / listening to the TV or radio, and there is "atmospheric music" to help build up the sense of drama. For me, this often blots out what is actually being said, so I have to guess what's going on at the most important bits. Again, as I prefer radio to TV, and radio is generally less prone to this, it isn't a major problem.
The third is that my son and I often have a background video call whilst we are both doing something else - cooking dinner for example. I sometimes find it hard to hear him, as he wanders round his kitchen. I don't know if that's a hearing issue, or if it's just self -evident that if he is chatting whilst e.g. rooting around in his fridge for something, and I have my back to the computer whilst I am peeling tatties at the sink, then even if my hearing was pin-sharp, I would miss bits.
It seems that the ratio of time when I wish my hearing was better to time when it doesn't matter is small.
I'm almost in your spot, and getting there rapidly. For me the determining factor will be whether the doc thinks they'll help me avoid Alzheimer's, which is a plague in my family, and which is apparently a higher risk for people who aren't getting all the communication input a normal person would. (I noticed with Mr. Lamb that he lost quite a bit of communication--conversation, etc--before he actually became aware of it himself. For example, he complained that LL wasn't interested in having a relationship with him, when the truth was, LL kept addressing him and getting no reply, and it got really old. So I know not to trust myself on this one.)
As a long time hearing aid user I'd say give them ago. First of all your hearing is probably going to decline as you get older and there will come a time when you'll need aids. Aids take time to adjust to, both in wearing them and getting your brain tuned in.. The sooner you start that process the better. Secondly, there well be more things that you are missing out on that you are not aware of, so worth getting aids to find out. Thirdly there seems to be suggestions that deafness leads to an increased risk of dementia if aids are not worn. I'm not sure that's true but I'm certainly aware that not being able to hear is very isolating. I have very little hearing and until I got my new aids last year was becoming less and less inclined to do things as I couldn't trust that I was hearing what other people were saying correctly. The new aids, although not giving me perfect hearing, no aids will do that, are good enough for me to enjoy social situations again and I certainly feel more with it than I've done for years. Depending on the contract your NHS supplier has you might get Bluetoothed ones. I can now use my phone to take calls, listen to podcasts etc due to the sound being right in my ears and balanced to my hearing loss.
Another long-term user joining the people urging you to get going on the aids ASAP. It can take quite a while to get things sorted out, ordered and delivered, so best to start sooner rather than later.
I decided I needed aids when I realised I was embarrassed about asking people to repeat things several times, and was pretending to hear them when I hadn't. I thought if I went on like that I would soon be living in a world of my own, out of touch with other people.
Personally I'm prepared to pay whatever it takes to keep my hearing anywhere in the normal range. Without my aids, the world is distant and muffled; even with them I go 'what?' a lot. Mr F is variably understanding.
But totally go for it. You don't realise how much you need hearing until it begins to fail.
Six years with hearing aids, have the same issues as you describe. My aids have made my life so much more enjoyable. Also aids in the last few years are so improved. Go for it.
Comments
These are on a trial. The cost is $7200. This is totally user-pay here, there is no insurance, no coverage by public health for hearing aides. (The conservative gov't stopped funding in 2017.) I'm going to have to understand warranty and replacement time frame.
[rant]
Canada: you can see a doctor and go to a hospital via medicare. Almost everything else is not funded: eye exams, hearing, dentist, physical therapy (outside of a hospital, only funded after surgery), psychological therapy and non-medication mental health care, prescription medication, crutches. With partial coverage at the lowest possible option for things like wheelchairs and casts for broken bones.
[/rant]
Are there people around that you could ask to help you look? I know you have shifted to a new place, but even relative strangers may be willing when they realise how dependent you are on them.
NP, none of the things you list are paid for here either, unless the need for them is the result of an accident. Every 6 years I can claim $1000 towards the cost of a new pair of hearing aids, and I do get subsidized GP visits because of receiving only Government Superannuation, which is less than the minimum wage. Also because I am over 65 I also get 10% off dental treatment, but that is not a government subsidy, but a commercial decision by my dentist. The plumber I use also offers this.
Possible COVID impact aside, the biggest two areas of desperate need here are the housing market and children living in poverty. Personally I would give up my hearing aid subsidy and the winter fuel allowance if the government could sort out either or both of these problems.
At risk of too tangential, bus service was free for about 8 months early in the pandemic. The consequence as noted by the food agency that distributes free and low cost food here was that parents who walked to work were now at home longer with their kids.
However, when I got a call to ask how I was getting on, and told them, they called me in almost immediately and put a different kind of dome on them, which is a vast improvement.
I still don't use them as my default, as I find it convenient to be able to recharge my "posh" ones, but the other day, I hadn't connected one of them properly to the charger thingy, and it was out of juice, so I had to use the NHS ones and they were fine.
My friend can hear the TV when the volume is down below 10. I can't. And I sometimes can't hear him. However, I have a silly little thing which cost £9.99 which helps if things are really difficult! I suspect I need another test, but the NHS is using Specsavers, and I don't want to be railroaded into a private device at the cost which I see above.
GI, is your aid covered by insurance?
I noticed that my mood lifted with my aids in - I think it was because I could hear the birds and other sounds in and around my house. I also found it easier to concentrate on what I was doing, even thought my tasks didn't involve sound.
Sadly seeing to our ears are not on the health centre’s list of options right now. And no way am I risking a high street pharmacy atm.
When this lockdown finishes I an going to approach my audiologist to have my aids turned up a bit more. As I get used to them I am gradually training myself to accept louder sounds, it's a journey of discovery which I am quite excited about.
NP, totally agree on the unfairness of it. Apparently here if you have a job where imperfect hearing could risk your life you can have them paid for similarly people who lost hearing due to industrial deafness (as it's called here) or an accident.
I'm a bit at sea at the moment. I was given a pair of NHS hearing aids from Specsavers about 6 months before lockdown. I live alone. Even without my hearing aids I hear friends speaking fine on my landline and on zoom. More recently I've had odd friends round for coffee, and that is fine too. As a result I haven't worn my hearing aids at all. (I wear infra red earphones when listening to the television and radio...)
Well, today I went to Specsavers to see the audiologist, because I'd tried my hearing aids when meeting a friend in a cafe for coffee, and I thought one of them wasn't working. Anyway, by the time I got to Specsavers they were both working perfectly.
Well.....the audiologist gave me a stern talk, which either amounted to the fact that if I don't wear my hearing aids 8 hours a day, everyday, they won't work for me, because my brain won't adapt to them. I think she was also hinting at dementia if I don't wear them 0_0, presumably on the basis that I will get cut off from social contact. Has anyone else been given advice along these lines?
This guide (pdf) from the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust mentions the importance of using hearing aids all the time (p.9) so that your brain adapts to the way the aids affect the sounds you hear.
I suspect most of us underestimate the brain’s involvement in processing sound. My guess is that it is similar to vision. Strikingly, with vision, wearing spectacles which turn what you see upside down will be automatically corrected by the brain in a couple of weeks or so. (It takes about the same length of time to reverse the process once you stop wearing them.) It seems that a similarly lengthy process is involved with hearing as well.
There’s loads about this on the internet, but I’ve tried to use sources that are mainstream and don’t have commercial interests in selling you anything.
@Lamb Chopped How nice to hear from you! Thank you also for your letting me know about your experiences. I share Mr. Lamb's distaste for wearing hearing aids, but the audiologist has made me think again, as have BroJames and your comments. Thank you, thank you!
* I do plan to rectify this omission; I just haven't got round to it yet. If I do, and I don't want to inflict my viewing habits on my neighbours, the swearing aids hearing aids will have to stay in a bit longer.
@Piglet My audiologist said I had to keep my hearing aids on for at least 8 hours a day for my brain to work with them properly. So it sounds like you are doing pretty well.
My mother has recently acquired hearing aids which connect to the TV via bluetooth, and she's very pleased with them. It did necessitate an upgrade to the antique TV they had, to a new TV that could simultaneously output (with different volume levels) to two different audio devices.
Sarasa, I don't yet need bluetooth capability, but I can understand your comment about feeling less stupid as I've had the experience of feeling stupid when I don't have my hearing aids on.
Today I went to the audiologist because I had forgotten how to access the "loop" setting which allows me to access the telecoil in buildings that are fitted with the technology. My difficulty was because I had not been in a crowd and needed to hear a speaker for over 3 years because of Covid.
In a fortnight's time a previous Dean will be speaking at the Transitional Cathedral and I very much want to hear him talk about his new book, which I am currently reading. I rang the Cathedral and they do have the technology, which works best if I sit near the front - so I will go early and be prepared to be very politely pushy ( it's probably not the right place to have a tantrum.
Mine are brilliant, though they have the habit of occasionally disconnecting when a call comes through, thus defeating the object of being hands-free .
They operate voice files which are downloaded on my work desktop, and are controlled by foot-pedals the same as old-fashioned dictaphone tapes.
I had an outpatients appointment this morning, as which, to my surprise, I was given a hearing test. The result was not a surprise - I have some hearing loss. I was told I would be entitled to NHS hearing aids, and that if I got them I would have to wear them for most of the time.
As I wasn't expecting to get a hearing test, I had given no thought to this and didn't think of any of the questions I am now pondering.
I have three issues. The first is conversation when there is background music / general noise. I find it hard to pick out what is being said to me amongst the general sound. However, I'm only in this situation between once and three times a week, and never for long.
The second is whilst watching / listening to the TV or radio, and there is "atmospheric music" to help build up the sense of drama. For me, this often blots out what is actually being said, so I have to guess what's going on at the most important bits. Again, as I prefer radio to TV, and radio is generally less prone to this, it isn't a major problem.
The third is that my son and I often have a background video call whilst we are both doing something else - cooking dinner for example. I sometimes find it hard to hear him, as he wanders round his kitchen. I don't know if that's a hearing issue, or if it's just self -evident that if he is chatting whilst e.g. rooting around in his fridge for something, and I have my back to the computer whilst I am peeling tatties at the sink, then even if my hearing was pin-sharp, I would miss bits.
It seems that the ratio of time when I wish my hearing was better to time when it doesn't matter is small.
I wonder if I should give them a go?
I decided I needed aids when I realised I was embarrassed about asking people to repeat things several times, and was pretending to hear them when I hadn't. I thought if I went on like that I would soon be living in a world of my own, out of touch with other people.
But totally go for it. You don't realise how much you need hearing until it begins to fail.
One of the options my hearing aids have is switching them so it's easier to hear the person you are talking to when there is background noise.
Just don't walk into a busy shopping mall with them turned up to the max just after having them fitted
My other memory from the first days of wearing them was walking in the