Hearing Aid — Advice

You are asking about advice on… what?

Assuming here that you are unhappy with the appetite for batteries that the devices have, and a search is on for an avenue to reduce expense of operation.

Have you considered ear horns?

Kidding aside, if the in-canal hearing assistance devices are fitted and in-hand, you are stuck with whatever power source they are designed for. A quick window shopping trip around the interweb shows me a few options available for common rechargeable hearing aid batteries, prices are all over the board (some with about two year break even point), and in general not-so-very-good reviews on overall satisfaction.

Was this a discussion point with your audiologist before devices were selected? What advice does she offer today about this concern?

Ear horns - I would about need the size of the ones they used before radar.

The link to hearingtracker.com is an interesting discussion on this issue. This is an excellent find, and seems a spot-on contribution to this subject.

I did not know about a 5 minuter rule , I thought they were in the wrong way round (my vision is not good either – 3 pairs of glasses).

Some times the batteries lasted for more than 2 days (#312),

Next time I will go to a professional and not sales .

I was diagnosed to have a moderate to severe hearing loss and been wearing radio in the ear canal type of hearing aids..

I've tried and alternately been wearing both the cheap ones, a self adjustable OTC type device that cost under $100, requiring the #10 batteries, while the expensive audiologist calibrated and pre-tuned $3k type that uses the #312 type batteries..

My experience using both types of hearing devices, the #10 batteries required by the cheaper hearing aids typically last for about 2 weeks when continuously worn 12 to 16 hours daily...

On the other hand the #312 batteries used by the more expensive type typically would last for about 3 weeks...which is a bit longer battery life..

After 6 or 7 years of experience using the two different disposable types of batteries as required to be used in the two different types of hearing devices,

It has been 3 years now since I opted for the rechargeable type of batteries used on the newest hearing aid model.. The rechargeable batteries so far are still functional during the required minimum 16 hours of daily use as long as they are put back into the charging cradle and recharged..

My hearing aid batteries typically last 2 weeks. But when I take them off I open them up so the batteries are not drawing power. I don't wear them all the time either. Good hearing aids are adjusted to your hearing by an audiologist. Typically the high pitches are increased. Also you might have got some old batteries that are not so good.

I can't help with the present conversation, but I will be needing hearing help before too long, so I am listening and (hopefully) learning. A question I will be having is about frequency response; I like pipe organ music especially the bass notes. I think the aids worry only about the conversational frequencies.

Lehman57 - Typically a hearing evaluation is conducted to assess the hearing capabilities using the 20Hz - 20kHz, audio range in 1K increment of steps, depending.. A hearing sensitivity should start at the lowest volume level noted, used as the hearing threshold at certain frequency. Spoken words tests are also conducted..

The actual resulting sounds heard after the tests, adjustments and calibrations in my experience normally will vary depending on the environment, the acoustics and sizeof the area, the ambient noise together with the source and the kind of sound..

As to your concern especially on the low frequency end, being physically very tiny and location placement dependent, like inside the ear canal, it would be better to first review the hearing device specifications like the processor type, make and model, noise filtering, etc.

I have abused my hearing all my life and now I too am paying for it. I have trouble listening to the phone and TV.

I have never considered hearing aids for I can’t stand something in my ears. One reason I never used ear plugs…. And now my ears ring like hell. And my bandwidth is choppy.

So I bought some bluetooth bone conducting headphones and was pleasantly surprised.

I can’t use it for the phone, but can listen to music thru computer….. and my TV has bluetooth.

And it’s like having a new set of ears. It really worked great for me. And it was less than 25 bucks.

And for my land line phone, I got a fiber phone, which cleared up that audio.

This bone conduction does not solve all hearing problems….. but it only cost $25 to find out.

I've worn hearing aids off & on for about 15 years. I don't wear them most of the time because they often don't help much (I'm almost deaf in one ear and have significant tinnitus in it).

I've heard of activating the batteries, but I didn't know how long it took, so I never do it. When I wear my HAs, I typically wear them less than about 8 hours per day. I've found that the brand of battery makes a big difference in longevity. Duracells are absolutely the worst! I bought a new package and, even though the package said they were good for about 10 more years, half we dead! Some were even corroded in the package. Energizers typically lasted 5-6 days. Kirkland (which I found on Ebay) last 8-9 days. (These are 312 batteries).

Yes, Koos, noisy restaurants make hearing difficult. Glasses & silverware clinking, putting ice cubes in a glass, etc. can be almost painful.

Can you adjust your HAs via your phone? My Beltones had to be tuned by the local store, but you could change volume with your phone. My current Bose HAs (no longer available) only has basic adjustments via phone. I don't think anything really works well if you have tinnitus or your hearing is too far gone. I may give the bone conduction ones a try.

Another thing that I find to be a problem is they layout of a room. We had the 'popcorn' removed from the ceiling of our house. Had the carpet removed and replaced with ceramic tile. Replaced the fabric covered furniture with leather. Now my wife and I can't hear each other when we're seated 3 feet apart. I've told her that we need some throw rugs or something to absorb the echoing, but she doesn't believe it.

“Now my wife and I can't hear each other when we're seated 3 feet apart.”

Quite interesting, this.

How much extra does this feature cost?

Thanks – the apple air pods seems to be what I was longing for. And for the price I paid for the hearing aid I could buy more than 1 set.

They however seems to be bulky - do they not fall out ?

I've had good results with them not falling out. I do occationally forget I'm wearing them and will brush one with my hand or something and it will fall out. However, They are much more replaceable than the in-ear units and I don't worry so much about losing them.

I did forget one time on a long trip that I put my expensive hearing aids in my lap while driving. Got out of the car and they fell on the ground. Realized what happened a mile down the road and had to turn back to find them! Very expensive mistake if they hadn't still been sitting there.

Another thing I like about the airpods is I don't have to clean and service them all the time. The silicone ear pieces are easily obtained and last a long time. And my phone alerts me if I walk away from them!

Airpod Pro 3 - $249 or less, I know of a couple people who recommend them for mild to moderate hearing loss.

That's an excellent recommendation. I remember my dad getting the prescription hearing aids and they were in the $5k range 12-15 years ago. He really liked them once the over-the-counter hearing aids were no longer giving him the correction he needed. The ability to 'tune' the ear pods is something I hadn't thought about until you brought this up. When my time comes for this sort of thing, I would even be willing to get an iPhone for that capability and retire my Android Phlip-Fone. (CAT S-22).

I've told her that we need some throw rugs or something to absorb the echoing, but she doesn't believe it.

Believe the echos! Consider gyms--many have "decorative" panels on the walls to absorb sound. Consider cafeterias--One I was in was almost deafening until they hung some banners in the rafters.

I must admit that I did not know what I wanted or needed when I went for the hearing test and purchased the aid and neither was the person a registered professional.

When the device was activated the first time I could hear the sound if the artificial water feature at the shopping mall but I don’t consider that useful information

I notice that it now possible to change the settings on a computer or app and that would be helpful but it would be really helpful if I could create pre tuned modes that is easy to select when needed.

Here in the UK I was in the waiting room at NHS and another guy came in with his rechargeable units, so I asked if I could have the same but was told that when they die and you're out socialising then you're stuck. At least with the Zn-airs you can get your back into the conversation, provided you can get the varmints to not shoot all over the shop when replacing.

It took me a while to realise that once the seal was taken off then the Zn-airs were self discharging.