For years I've been a bit deaf, such that a couple of years ago I went to the hospital and they measured me and confirmed it. They issued me with a pair of those behind the ear jobbies which I sometimes wear around the house but won't wear out, as I have short hair (which I don't want to grow) and I think the things are unsightly and I simply don't want to wear them out (not that I'm a particularly vain person).
Anyway, I feel the problem is getting a little worse, probably connected with age. I've been rooting around and found these in canal devices which are massively expensive - about £1400 per corner. I think I'm about the same deaf in each wear and wondered if I could get away with buying one, which i think would overcome the difficulties I sometimes have hearing in certain places, or whether I really have to have both.
Any thoughts? Also does anyone know if the price is negotiable on these types of product?
Here's the type of thing...
www.bootshearingcare.com/hearing-aids/invisible/
www.starkeypro.com/public/pdfs/technical-papers/WTPR0008-00-EE-ST.pdf
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Specsavers is about 1/2 price of Boots in many cases
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Baseball cap to conceal ?
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If you haven't done so already, before you do anything, Smokie, may I suggest you get an appointment with practice nurse for a few days hence to have BOTH ears cleaned (fine sprayed), but only after you've inserted some drops (olive oil will do it) over at least 3 days. She (or he) will check ears first for wax blockage. I've had fit-behind-the-ears aids for couple of years, which I wear occasionally .. provided free by Audiology dept at local hospital after referral by GP. Strangely, my hearing seems to have improved a tad, but I still get em checked by GP or nurse twice a year.
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They my have improved since, but I used to wear the in ear type at school but I found them a bit irritating as they could not be tuned as well as the over ear type.
I still have them but not used them for a good ten years or so I get by without using then now
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www.mmhearing.com/hearing-aids/products.htm
www.hearingdirect.com/pages/FAQ.html
Both of the above offer a no cost trial, one is a refund the other is delayed invoicing. Both state that you not liking them is sufficient grounds for returning them.
That would seem like the right way to go.
The other thing I'd point out is that there are "behind the ear" types which are a lot less conspicuous than the robust NHS ones.
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I have two behind the ear NHS digital aids, which in performance are similar to the in ear, privately purchased, for 1900 euros, single one I had in Spain.
The NHS units are impossible for me to use when making a 'phone call and I have to remove the unit in the operating ear. The in ear one is OK for 'phone use, while in situ.
I still use this occasionally, just as a change from the moulded plugs of the NHS units.
I'm not concerned about the aesthetics these days!
In my experience I definitely think that two aids give a much better experience than one, with much more depth of sound.
ALL hearing aids are, I find, massively horrid to wear, being conducive to sweaty ears, increased wax, soreness and in the case of the two NHS ones, now making the inside of my ears scaly and raw, to the extent of having "weeping" skin.
YUK!
I am currently awaiting the supply of two new moulds made from hypo-allergenic material to see if that will help.
The other route is that of cochlea implants which, on the NHS, are only available in rare cases as the procedure is so expensive. I believe that these latter devices still require an external sound source, so will not negate the need for an ear-hung unit.
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>>,,,but only after you've inserted some drops (olive oil will do it) over at least 3 days.
>>
This has been the good advice for many a decade.
We use a product aptly named Earol. This is the moderrn low tec convenient way of getting the oil to the target. A little bottle containing olive oil with a little plunger on the spray head.
Obviously expensive oil but saves a lot of faffying about.
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>> We use a product aptly named Earol. This is the moderrn low tec convenient way
>> of getting the oil to the target. A little bottle containing olive oil with a
>> little plunger on the spray head.
>> Obviously expensive oil but saves a lot of faffying about.
>>
Another vote for Earol. £4.99 may be a lot of money to fork out for 10ml of olive oil, but it works very well, and, unlike some of the other products available, it's not abrasive.
My lugs used to need syringing about every four months, but by using Earol once a week, this chore is now an annual event.
And as Henry says, it saves a lot of faffing.
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I've worn hearing aids for something like twelve years. I started with NHS ones (limited usefulness), then went private with Hidden Hearing (not good value for money) and then, since about four years, Specsavers (much better value for money and better after-care).
£1400 each is not "massively expensive" in the world of private hearing aids, where some incredibly sophisticated devices are now available, but the ones I use cost me about £1800 for the pair and I've been very pleased. Modern digital aids are in effect mini-computers or sound-processors. Mine have three programs: one for speech, the second for music, and the aids switch automatically between the two; and the third is manually controlled and is for the telephone.
Any audiologist would recommend you wear a pair, not one, as it's difficult to adjust perceptually otherwise - you will always feel "unbalanced". Even with the best aids, you do not hear "normally" - your brain has to learn how to interpret what the nerves convey.
By all means get your ears cleaned out - a hearing test will be more valid afterwards.
The "in-ear" aids are less powerful than the "behind-ear" ones, which is what I have now. As regards other people being aware of them, nowadays I don't care any more. They're not that visible, but they are there. I take the view that people wear spectacles for their vision and even make fashion statements with them and hearing aids are there, like glasses, to help your perception. (You can in fact make a fashion statement with hearing aids too; in Specsavers you can choose some really bright and garish ones!)
Perhaps the best aspect of Specsavers for me has been the meticulous (and free) after-care, during which my aids were gradually tailored to me personally. Virtually every parameter of each program can be adjusted.
So I can play in an orchestra and not be deafened by the very loud sounds near me, but still hear the conductor when he stops us and speaks. The only problem I have is when a TV programme has speech and music at the same time. Then I can't hear the speech.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Sat 10 Nov 12 at 18:15
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No matter how rubbish or conspicuous a hearing aid looks, you'll always look cooler than someone wearing a Bluetooth earpiece.
Last edited by: Lygonos on Sat 10 Nov 12 at 20:59
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Now that, is what they call perspective.....
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Ballcocks,
Nothing looked cooler than Lt Uhuru with her Bt earpiece in her ear.
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This is interesting thread as my hearing has been slowly worsening but now I seem to have early stages of tunnitus in my left ear.
Had ears syringed etc (I feel that the tinnitus started after my last syringe) but had recent test at audiology. Was advised that I was now borderline for a hearing aid (which I don't want - glasses are bad enough) but she said that the hearing aid would help my tinnitus. Reasoning for this being that the tinnitus is so noticeable as I am not hearing anything else to "deafen" it but with a hearing aid it would amplify external sounds and therefore cover the tinnitus.
Await my appointment with the ENT Consultant before deciding what I should do!
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Be warned that for my brother who has recently had to get hearing aids... tinnitus is worse when wearing them.
He's probably gone a bit deaf after years where he'd be in a factory environment when ear protection not the norm. Noisy places. And he was the manager so goodness knows what happened to those working on the factory floor all day if they didn't wear ear protection.
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I was asked that at my appointment if I worked in a noisy environment but I have went from office to supermarket to office based so never been knowingly exposed to extreme noises.
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Loud music or headphone user?
Funnily enough it's the high frequencies that are nasty, not the thumping bass IIRC.
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>> Loud music or headphone user?
>>
>> Funnily enough it's the high frequencies that are nasty, not the thumping bass IIRC.
Although very low frequencies can make you throw up.
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>> >> Loud music or headphone user?
>> >>
>> >> Funnily enough it's the high frequencies that are nasty, not the thumping bass IIRC.
>>
>>
>> Although very low frequencies can make you throw up.
So does Jim reeves and roger whitaker.
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>> very low frequencies can make you throw up.
I made inquiries once - can't remember why exactly - into the availability of a high-volume, inaudible super-bass wave generator, preferably directional. I seem to remember that such things are available but only to the security services. But perhaps I was fantasizing.
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>> I made inquiries once ... into the availability of a high-volume, inaudible super-bass wave generator,
>> preferably directional
A couple of decades ago I was into SPL competitions - loudest car stereos - and I remember hearing of the existence of directional bass weapons too. Useful for herding elephants at long range, I gather.
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Are ye thinking of Jericho c1400BC, Sire, where the dudes kept schtum for 7 days, then sounded their horns 'til the walls came crashing down.
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>> Are ye thinking of Jericho c1400BC, Sire, where the dudes kept schtum for 7 days,
>> then sounded their horns 'til the walls came crashing down.
>>
Only ice-cream maker mentioned in the Bible: Walls of Jericho.
Anyone remember which car manufacturer gets a credit?
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>>I made inquiries once - can't remember why exactly - into the availability of a high-volume, inaudible super-bass wave generator, preferably directional.<<
www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/5/acousticsofwar.php
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_weapon
There appeared to be remarkably little info on Googling 'subsonic weapons' - until I used the alternative description of 'infrasound'.
I can remember from my student days a comment that 7Hz appears to be resonant with some internal body organs - any willing volunteers with a good HiFi system and audio generator?
I am surprised that experiments of using interferring beams of higher frequencies, generating a subsonic beat frequency, does not seem to feature. This would apparently be easier to focus and control?
Are we now both on a watch list?
Last edited by: pmh on Sun 11 Nov 12 at 20:54
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IIRC 7HZ is the resonant frequency of many buildings.
Anyone remember MASERs ?
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Two things Zero -
1. That was Space and not Asda in Llangefni
2. She was a shapely female not an overweight pot bellied man in a football shirt ironed over a wok !
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>> Nothing looked cooler than Lt Uhuru with her Bt earpiece in her ear.
Who'da thunk a trainspotter would also be a Trekkie.
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Goes with the territory final frontier
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Jeeeez - is that, like, your receptionist ?
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Yeah, you want an appointment, you gotta get past her. And her phaser is set to more than "stun"
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His patient, by the look of her collagen lip plumping.
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>>by the look of her collagen lip plumping.
You must have a different photo - that one doesn't go low enough to show it up.
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NHS aids do not neccessarily have to have mouldings. I prevailed on my local service to supply instead thin tubes with floppy "parachutes" to fit the canal snugly. These are far less conspicuous. It was unwilling and I must admit the tubes are hard to clean and the aids sometimes "recruit" (whistle if someone comes too close). It may be the NHS models are simply not designed for tubes. More expensive ones are but the type of fitment depends on the specific patient requirement. So does the type of aid: in-the-ear ones are not suitable for me, for example.
By the way, the handleless, thin wires supplied to clean the tubes are very hard to use. I improvised some from angling traces , those wires with a swivel at each end. Cut off one swivel, bend the other one back and wrap it with masking tape to form a handle.
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i been deaf since i been a little one, currently i have bought the phonak nano, i had starkey cic hearing aids the digital ones, but realised that as i was getting older they werent upto the mark.
My old hearing aid dispenser then reomended widex, clear 440 range, was quoted £5300 for both of them that included the 10 percent discount.
clearly i needed new hearing aids as my job dependant on them i work as a clerical officer in the nhs, so i shopped around and found another audiologist who offered the phonak nano for half the asking price. So i bought them for £2790.
These hearing aids are a revelation, well worth the asking price, incidently i was saving up for another honda jazz, but buying the aids were more important for me.
The phonak nano are the ambra version and some audiologist will sell them for £6000.
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Had lots of glue ear as a child, a burst eardrum - repaired around 11 , then at 16 got into heavy rock music, now have tinnitus, constant ringing and the occassional long buzzing noise which is horrible, but thankfully short lived , and I have music, radio or tv on in every room I'm in, and some I'm not, for when I might go there.....really annoys SWMBO, but what the heck
Last year got to that point in life 47 when the writing on back of everything suddenly started shrinking and hearing the tv below 60 was nigh on impossible,, so when I get around to it, it'll be me off to the optitions and to get a hearing aid, currently I use selective hearing to avoid lots of awkward requests, but it is annoying sometimes
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and I have music, radio or tv on in every room I'm in, and some I'm not, for when I might go there.
We are clearly related.
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I have used hearing aids for 10+ years; the last ones were Phonak Audeo. I have had them for a bit over 3 years and they are just not up to job any more, they were not a very good spec when I bought them and they have become less and less effective.
I have just been to Specsavers and collected two of the latest Phonaks on a BOGOF. It is early days but they are clearly a quantum leap from the ones I had. Specifically they have 3 programmes and adjust automatically and independently to prevailing conditions; they switch automatically to "Telephone" mode when a phone earpiece is detected. They can be muted when not needed (eg travelling on a train) and muting one mutes the other via a Bluetooth type connection. 4 years warranty, support and battery supply. Some change out of £2000 and, additionally, because Phonak could not supply the model I had had prescribed, within 48 hours, they gave me a better model worth an extra £250 each FOC. Initial thoughts are that they are good value, at the price I paid, and working very well.
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So your Phnoaks at a little under £2k - which one are they?
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They are Phonak aids,made for Specsavers and sold as Specsavers 846
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i was shopping around for digital hearing aids, two makes came in my mind, widex and phonak.
My old audioigist recomended the widex clear range, you get to buy the other stuff like bluetooth wireless sound reciever for mobile phone and tv reception, they were pricey got quoted £5300 for them.
Asked for the phonak range the audiologist showed me some of the range with prices similar to the widex.
The prices quoted deterred me and i decided to shop around, went to specsavers and boots, specsaver get own brand digital hearing aids, but looking at them they were made by phonak, and were actually last generation models.
Boots sell seimens branded hearing aids, again last generation.
Looked at the internet and saw another local audiologist selling the latest phonak hearing aid which included the nano, the one i am wearing at the moment.
The phonak nano are the ambra model, that is phonaks top of the range hearing aids, and the beauty of them are it sits in the inner canal of the ear, completely hidden, and my current audiologist said that you dont need other gizmos like bluetooth recievers and like just use what natures has given you.
I been wearing them and they are a revelation, compared to the 5 year old starkey i got, with the nano i got it got enough headroom to last for a further 5 years till i replace them for the completley in the ear aids. which are waterproof and you dont need to take them off.
if its ok for the mods i would like to show the website in which i bought the nano
www.hearingchecktoday.co.uk/index.asp
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Bad news re new hearing aids! WAAAAY too sensitive; I was in a train today sitting across the aisle from a lady sitting at a table who was having a very loud conversation with the person opposite her. Aid automatic programmes did not seem to do much to help.
Anyway, after 30 minutes of interminable yelling I asked her if she talked with her mouth full. She said "No, of course not!) so I asked if I could buy her an sandwich from the snax trolley and get 5 minutes peace and quiet. Reduction of volume but major sense of humour failure too!
Good news- got the aids onto my contents policy, covered against loss or theft anywhere in the world at no extra premium.
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Sajid - if my budget would stretch, that's the sort of thing I'm looking at. How much were they? (Oh, OK - £1495/£1595 each? Any deal for two? :-) )
Meldrew - are yours the invisible ones ?
Last edited by: smokie on Thu 15 Nov 12 at 23:06
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No - they are hard to see! Shaped like a very small wedge of cheese, behind the ear, and a very fine wire/cable connecting to a tiny loudspeaker in the ear. Known technically as RIC = Receiver In Canal. Virtually invisible is use, particularly if you hair is longish in the area of your ears.
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>> No particularly if your hair is longish in the area of your ears.
My hair's longish IN my ears.
8o)
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>> Sajid - if my budget would stretch, that's the sort of thing I'm looking at.
>> How much were they? (Oh, OK - £1495/£1595 each? Any deal for two? :-) )
>>
>> Meldrew - are yours the invisible ones ?
>>
I got them for £2890 for two, with discount, they the invisible ones all right.
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So I wonder how one would help...
Are they easy to get in and out? I don't really need them all the time, not yet anyway, and there are times they'd be a distinct nuisance - e.g. using my earbud headphones on the train.
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What I have are receiver in canal where there is a unit behind the ear and a fine cable with a loudspeaker at the end which goes into the ear - like this one tinyurl.com/cpb8pdf
I think the ones you are referring to are these - totally in the ear and a little plastic stalk with which to pull it out like this tinyurl.com/ccf7o43 One cannot conveniently use bud earphones with these but small cup ones would work.
The latest is the Invisible In Canal (IIC) which has to be made to measure (ear moulding) and goes so far into the ear that it has to be taken out and put in by an audiologist SFAIK. Doesn't sound that convenient to me, tinyurl.com/crk9qpm
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Thanks Meldrew, yours look like a prettier and maybe smaller version of the ones I have on the NHS for free. With short hair, I am loath to use anything external, so I'm looking for something (virtually) invisible. Not sure I'd want the inconvenience of not being able to remove them myself if wanted though, and I wonder if you can (for instance) shower and swim without "special considerations" . I'm thinking a trip to Specsavers would be a good start though.
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Good Morning Smokie. What you get from the NHS depends on funding in your PCT. A colleague of mine got RIC ones on the NHS but I was offered huge pink plastic boxes and large acrylic ear mouldings.
I am not so vain, or deaf, that I think I need IIC ones. SFAIK they are put in and taken out of the ear by an audiologist, and stay in the ear all the time, swimming and showering etc - seems a bit risky to me! I guess they must have some sort of remote control as one would not want them on 24/7! Additionally there is the problem of wax; all aids I have had used in the past, and the present ones, have changeable wax filters. If the aid fails one first checks the battery and then changes the wax filter. I can't see how an IIC one is going to have a battery or filter changed without a visit to the supplier and that really isn't convenient, to me at least.
Last edited by: Meldrew on Sat 17 Nov 12 at 08:12
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Deafness & hearing aids - Falkirk Bairn
