Hearing Aid Second Thoughts

vtmarmot

vtmarmot

P Magoon, Livin' Free NH
OK, I know it's early yet. I picked up my new super-fancy blue-tooth enabled hearing aids today. They are absolute top of the line. My initial impression is "I don't want to hear all that crap I'd been missing." Step on a leaf - "CRUNCH". Hear your pants rub together as you walk. Pick up a plastic bag and hear a symphony of crinkling. All sorts of funny little noises you didn't know existed. I mostly wanted them to help music sound more clear and voices not to sound muddy. So far, no improvement. I drive two hours a day but I can't wear them in the car at all where I had hoped they'd help me keep the radio turned down. The phone is better without them - I just turn it up. I believe the only place they might possibly be useful is in meetings where I don't want to miss anything. Otherwise, I'd rather stay half deaf. I'm pretty depressed about having wasted my time and the insurance company's money. My tinnitus is terrible too. I think I'll probably have to give up shooting and go live in a cave.
 
Me Too

Yeah, bought a pair of those super duper BT hearing aids also. No insurance though. I know what you're talking about. When I was at Raton last week for the BR match I went through three rooms at the motel because the central A/C fan made too much of a clicking noise that I knew would make it hard to get to sleep. The third room noise was less than the previous two but then I had the bright idea to take out my hearing aids and "viola", I couldn't hear the clicking. Vent fans, microwaves, newspaper, road noise are just a few of the amplified noises that don't help anything. I do, however, like the device that uses BT to connect my hearing aids to the audio on the cable box. My wife and I can adjust tv volume separately. Pluses and minuses.
 
I have mine tuned for just the frequencys I am missing. It took about 3 trips to get them tuned right. I also switched from a molded insert to an open tip, this got rid of the being in a tunnel feeling. There is a noise canceling frequency that helps cancel out the tinnitus.
 
I've had experience with both in the ear and behind the ear hearing aids. I have no idea if I have the "Super Duper" aids or what as the VA furnishes mine, but I did look up the make & model the last time I got aids & the cost if purchased was $2500 per ear, so they must be somewhat OK. Micro Tech made by Seimans was the brand.

Any way it sounds as if the OP has the in the ear aids, these gave me the most trouble and increased the background noise the most. I now wear behind the ear aids and have for 5 years with complete satisfaction, am due for a new set now but like these so well not sure I want another set.

Just something for you to ponder over.:D
 
Questions

Are your units analog or digital?
Are they molded in ear or open tip?
Any particular brand you are referencing?
Centerfire
 
Got Mine at....

Costco several years ago and am pretty satisfied. They give me a yearly hearing test and retune the aids accordingly. The cost ($1900 pr) was less than half what a major vendor wanted. If unwanted background noise is too loud, I just turn the volume down. I use the open ear receivers. I like them better than the molded ones; a less stuffy feeling.

Good luck with yours....virg
 
I use Walker Game ear Digital HD Pro with the frequency tuning option--something like $160 at Cabelas, with a Radians do it yerself molded earplug kit(tan color). The big foam plug the Game Ear comes with is scraped off the tube, the mixed silicone earplug putty is wrapped around the tube, and stuffed quickly in the ear to set(5 min), while the outside of the plug is pushed around in the ear, to get a nice even looking outer appearance. The molded earplug kit is enuf for 4 earplugs, just make sure the end of the tube is up, and open in the ear canal, and the electronics unit is in back of your ear while the silicone sets. I once bought the deluxe model, with "selectable digital programs", but that model has annoying beeps when selecting modes, and I couldn't tell much difference between modes--$100 or so more, wasted money. Just tune the frequency control down on the $160 model, so dry leaves won't drive you nuts walking in the woods. It shuts off at loud noises, but I just leave the thing in my ear, and shut the power off when on the range shooting. I think most hearing aids are ripoffs--from what I can tell, my Walkers is as good as most. Just hard to talk in a crowded room, but friends say all aids do that.
 
xs hedspace said:
I think most hearing aids are ripoffs--from what I can tell, my Walkers is as good as most. Just hard to talk in a crowded room, but friends say all aids do that.
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Have you ever had the REAL hearing aids? If not how can you make this statement?

Would you also get your glasses as was done in the old days by just trying on various prescriptions to get one you THOUGHT was right?
 
You don't need to be both deaf and stupid! There is a fix.

A good friend of mine told me about getting his first hearing aids. He said he was amazed to find he could hear things he had not heard in a long time. The trouble was he could not remember what they were.:)

These thing are not the perfect correction like eyeglasses but they surely do help. A good pair of hearing aids make the difference between understanding most of what is said and not.

Over the counter noise amplifiers are no more hearing aids than an over the counter magnifying glass is a pair of prescription eye glasses.

Concho Bill
 
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MilGunsmith said:
I have mine tuned for just the frequencys I am missing. It took about 3 trips to get them tuned right. I also switched from a molded insert to an open tip, this got rid of the being in a tunnel feeling. There is a noise canceling frequency that helps cancel out the tinnitus.
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Maybe for you, not me. I have ringing 24-7. It's the inner ear and there isn't any fixing it. No amount of plugging my ears matters. That's what I get for not ducking down while shoving 81mm mortar rounds down the tube. I made a mistake when I bought my present TV. There isn't a jack to plug head phones in. Live and learn.
 
Huh!

One thing to remember, the hear aid is not just for you, its also for the people who wish to communicate with you. Instead of getting the irritating "HUH"!
 
macflyboy said:
One thing to remember, the hear aid is not just for you, its also for the people who wish to communicate with you. Instead of getting the irritating "HUH"!
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Hearing aids are a wonderful thing. I have zero communication without mine and I get fit for a new set tomorrow since one of mine has died and the right one is an obsolete model. I am looking forward to getting my new ones to improve my quality of life and be able to understand people better.
 
The hearing aid generates atone that counteracts the tinnitus tone, similar to Bose noise cancelling headphones. I can notice the difference with and with out them.
 
Answer to questions

My hearing aids are digital, behind the ear with tubes leading to the ear canal and a perforated ear dam. I am not wearing them again until I get them adjusted. They trigger my stapedial myoclonus (look it up if you have a few days) which is like having an insect dance on your ear drum. I also get it at night after I have suffered some abuse of my hearing, and it has happened recently. Usually this condition is triggered at my desk when the ventilation system is going rampant and my PC fan and disk are grinding. Filament type bulbs on a dimmer system will also trigger it as the filament vibrates. While waiting for adjustments, I have found out some interesting things. My Moldex Meteor lifetime supply of 33 db foam plugs came today and I used them while mowing the lawn in combination with Howard Leight 30 nrr muffs. They worked great. Much better than those muffs plus molded plugs. I also bought a couple pair of Winchester 26 nrr muffs at Wally World for $9.97 each. I wore a set at my desk most of the day. The quiet was heavenly. Can't believe how noisy my office is. I also wore a pair in the car while commuting an hour each way. I find that with them on I can listen to the radio at normal volume and hear voices just fine. It is a much more pleasant experience than without the muffs. I still plan to use my hearing aids when reprogrammed, but only for times when they make a positive difference like meetings and social situations. I sure don't need to have better hearing in the bathroom or break room.
 
Got some adjustments

Well, I wish they'd done at first what they did for me today. I got my hearing aids programmed so that the button on the left one lowers the volume and the button on the right one raises it. You can do it in about five or six steps each way. It's easy to reset to baseline. They also lowered the baseline volume a bit and took the "edge" off the feature that brings high sounds down to a range I can hear. They also programmed the stereo telephone feature for me. If I hold the receiver a bit high on my right ear, the sound comes out of both. They are vastly more useful now. I might even start to like them.
 
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