Hearing Aids - Who’s got ‘em?

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davek

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I started with Starkey over the ear that worked pretty well. But they were always rubbing on my glasses which was very annoying.
Now I have in ear ones (not the tiny ones, they are nowhere near invisible) that have better sound quality. The big difference is you can't chew and hear at the same time. Switching to in ear is weird, you feel like your ears are stuffed, but you can hear just fine.
I also have very bad tinnitus. The masking provided by the hearing aids help some. I've noticed if I skip using them for a day or two that the tinnitus roars back and it takes a couple of days with the hearing aids for the masking to be effective again.
 

DDriller

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I have used the Kirkland brand from Costco for a little over a year. Had ReSound for 8 years prior to these. Both are good aids but the Kirkland is 1/3 the price.
 

dennishoddy

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l have had sams club hearing aids for about 5-6 years and so far no issues with em. They will give you a new hearing test and adjust the hearing aids for free so l do that about once a year..........the biggest thing that helps is to train your wife to be in the same area as you are and to look at you when she talks to ya not look away from ya.

This is my second set, l can't remember the name of the high dollar first set, but make sure of the warranty AND repair cost etc.. etc.. they were more hassle than they were worth and the company wanted to nickel and dime me to death.

Do they help yep kinda sorta like at home watching tv or in quiet small family groups. If you are trying to watch tv or reading and the wife is cooking dinner or washing dishes it will sound like a you are sitting in the middle of the percussion section of the orchestra and when a cabinet door or drawer is closed it's a bang every time. I finally put felt pads on all the cabinet doors and drawers.

At a restaurant with a lot of background noise nope, outside in the Oklahoma wind very irritating, around screaming kid ......holy cow ya can't turn em off quick enough. If you work in a somewhat loud to really loud environment nope they'll drive ya nuts.

As yall can tell I'm not really impressed by any of em I've tried. Would l buy another set l really don't think so because they may help a little in specific situations they just remind me of a scam or snake oil salesman.......they promise more than you get
Your issue is a simple adjustment by a professional audiologist. The range of your aids is too sharp. The audiologist needs to dampen down the higher frequencies which will fix those issues of sitting in a percussion section.
Evidently the person setting your aids up didn't know what they were doing or didn't pay attention to the frequency graph you generate when taking a hearing test. That test should show where your losses are and graph it. The audiologist will tune them accordingly.
Most aids these days are self tunable via an app on your phone. I had some issues with my Starky's that the VA provides me and sent them in for repair while using my old ones. When they came back they were exactly like yours, but I got into the app, tuned them to eliminate the Jimi Hendrix feedback concert that was going on in my ears to be as comfortable as they can be.
. I don't know where your loss is so I'm just offering suggestions from my experience of loss and aids since our government caused mine in the 70's.
 

1911DA

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Your issue is a simple adjustment by a professional audiologist. The range of your aids is too sharp. The audiologist needs to dampen down the higher frequencies which will fix those issues of sitting in a percussion section.
Evidently the person setting your aids up didn't know what they were doing or didn't pay attention to the frequency graph you generate when taking a hearing test. That test should show where your losses are and graph it. The audiologist will tune them accordingly.
Most aids these days are self tunable via an app on your phone. I had some issues with my Starky's that the VA provides me and sent them in for repair while using my old ones. When they came back they were exactly like yours, but I got into the app, tuned them to eliminate the Jimi Hendrix feedback concert that was going on in my ears to be as comfortable as they can be.
. I don't know where your loss is so I'm just offering suggestions from my experience of loss and aids since our government caused mine in the 70's.
They have been tuned by knowledgable audiologists several times and were better but I still don't like them. Like all things some things are just not for all people.
 

dennishoddy

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I have really bad tinnitus. The VA just set me up with hearing aids a few months ago. They're nice enough. But very annoying to me. They seem to amplify annoying sounds like paper rustling or crunching, and little ticking sounds from various things. I thought maybe they were tuned wrong but went back to the audiologist and he checked my ears and the aids and said they should be exactly where I need them to be.

I can't hear certain voices any better than I can without them.

I was also told they might make the tinnitus less noticeable...they don't. As a matter of fact, when I take the hearing aids out the tinnitus seems worse.

I rarely even wear them now.

I do like the Bluetooth feature. Pretty neat to use a cell phone thru the hearing aids.

I'm probably the exception, though. Most people seem to really see a quality of life improvement with them. I don't.
LOL, the paper rustling and other noises is exactly what your supposed to hear. Your loss has suppressed that noise for years and you didn't notice it because it was gradual. Depending on the model you have, tinnitus can be suppressed by aids. Mine do.
My friend who was a tank driver in the 70's has profound hearing loss and was eligible for VA Aids. After a week he put them in a drawer and said he couldn't stand all the noise. (I think he could finally hear his wife)
What happens after getting aids is that the brain takes a couple of weeks to adapt to the influx of data coming into the ear. If the aids are not totally out of whack, the brain will start to adjust to those sounds. One has to be patient and let it happen.
 

Podman

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I got my first pair from Lowry Hearing Aid in Tulsa. They worked ok for a year or two then one quit and Lowry wouldn't do
anything to fix them. They were Starkey brand. I wouldn't recommend Lowry or Starkey hearing aids. I may try Costco as I have
heard good things about them. Starkey's were a waste of $1800. Hearing aids are the biggest racket in medicine imo.
 

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