Hearing Aid Purchase

[ccarcher]

Not sure if this should have gone in Shopping or Special Needs but here goes, hopefully someone can help

My father has for many years struggled to find a suitable hearing aid which works well for him

He must have tried at least 10 different models to my knowledge of all types and designs, and techniques , and acrss a broad range of budgets, the latest digital models he has cost somewhere approaching £5000

No matter how many tweaks and adjustments are made there always appears to be something that is never quite right, (although this appears to be famously the case with these types of device)

In the UK it seems very much that whereever you go they have a particular brand or type that they wish to sell

Just wondering if anyone has any experience of buying these devices in the US

We are off in Florida, and he is considering a trip somewhere when we are out there to see what is on offer

Now I imagine that perhaps being the US, whilst the technology must be fairly similar, they are likely to be a little more open with what they are able to offer you in terms of models and types

I would also imagine that a model bought in the US is more than likely to have a reseller in the UK also for adjustments on his return

Be interested to know if others have ventured down this route, and the experiences both good and bad

[loadsapixiedust]

Just wondering if he has been fully assessed at a hearing aid clinic? There may be a particular reason why so many different aids are not working for him. If he is looking at spending that sort of money on an aid then even a private assessment may be worth considering.

[Diane]

Audiology Clinics are held where I work and I also have to distribute batteries/tubing to patients that require them.

Its a common misconception that if you purchase a private hearing aid the batteries will be supplied by the NHS but I'm afraid this is not so. If you have a private aid then you will need to buy batteries (from Boots or similar outlets) and they are quite expensive and do not last very long. So that is an additional cost to be taken into consideration.

I would urge your Father to contact his GP and ask for an assessment via his local hospital, I know they are trialling some new very small aids at the moment in our area that are proving quite popular with the patients. Perhaps he could ask about these?

Diane x

[Mazzy]

I wear a hearing aid myself, have done for 35 years, since I was a child. I don't know the details of your father's hearing loss, but from my personal experience, I'm afraid to say that your father may be trying to attain more from a hearing aid than is possible. They don't give you 'normal' hearing back, and after wearing one for so long, I still get annoyed with background noise etc etc. Also, it can take many visits to the audiologist to get them programmed right, I must have gone back a dozen times when I got my latest digital aid last year.

Personally I would not consider spending thousands of pounds on a hearing aid, now that the NHS has their digital aids up and running, but I understand everyone has to make that decision for themselves.

I would agree with Diane that your father might be better seeing his GP to get a referral to his local audiology clinic, and see how he gets on there. They may be able to help and it won't cost anything to try.

[ccarcher]

I wear a hearing aid myself, have done for 35 years, since I was a child. I don't know the details of your father's hearing loss, but from my personal experience, I'm afraid to say that your father may be trying to attain more from a hearing aid than is possible. They don't give you 'normal' hearing back, and after wearing one for so long, I still get annoyed with background noise etc etc. Also, it can take many visits to the audiologist to get them programmed right, I must have gone back a dozen times when I got my latest digital aid last year.

Personally I would not consider spending thousands of pounds on a hearing aid, now that the NHS has their digital aids up and running, but I understand everyone has to make that decision for themselves.

I would agree with Diane that your father might be better seeing his GP to get a referral to his local audiology clinic, and see how he gets on there. They may be able to help and it won't cost anything to try.

Hi Mazzy

Your experiences appear to highlight the problems and frustrations, my father has encountered and still is, along with then the frustrations those around him suffer

A familiar complaint as you say being background music or nois ein any environment, hearing on the phone, the problems of more than one voice (different levels and tones) at the same time and also the varying levels and frequencies which just increase the problems for him

For whatever reason he is convinced that one on its own works fine, but the 2 together are just battling against each other

AS you say I guess they will never fully replace your original hearing but hopefully go some way to compensate what is possible / available to you

Not being complete au fait with the technology or the problems,

He has however started at the very bottom of the cycle (many years ago now, originally being referred by his GP to a local audiology clinic for assesment / trials and testing etc

Following that path for sometime as most probably do, he effectively went down his own path and private assesment (being fortunate enough to be able to) , due to the frustrations and delays within the NHS, and not being happy with the results

he is still referred back to the NHS audiology though even now

And whilst as you say the NHS now has there own digital models, he has been advised by them that the current digital models he has are so far advanced and superior to their own (apparently) that having invested so much time and money into this model then he would be taking a very big step backwards to adopt the NHS product at this stage

Looks like he will obviously have to continue down the path of many adjustments and enhancements for sometime to come

Was just curious as to whether the level of competance in this area in the US was any better or worse than that in the UK, where the industry appears to be full of charlatans

[Saratoska]

can he not get a referal from his doctor for the ENT Consutlant at the local audiology Dept . Our son has had hearing aids since 4 and I must say the NHS hospital he attends has been brilliant. they are also brilliant at giving him the latest technology but like Mazzy it takes quite a few trips to get them 'set' proparley sometimes. his are digital and tuned into his hearing loss via the computor but he still struggles to hear say if someone is coming up behind him. also like Mazzy says it doesn't give him back perfect hearing.

we just bought him wireless headphones and its the best thing we have bought him, means he can have his tv, radio or mp3 turning up without it drowning out the whole house.

[Mazzy]

I understand your father's situation, and if the private aids are better than those on the NHS, and suit him them I would stick with them. I personally only wear one aid, even though I've been prescribed two, as I find two aids just far too much noise, and still can't her speech any better, so maybe he could try just using one aid and see if that's any better for him.

Sometimes it's easier to accept that you have a hearing loss, and just put up with the problems, instead of continually trying to get a better result, as it can be very wearing emotionally. It really does take some time to come to terms with being deaf, myself included, and coping with the day to day problems it brings can be very challenging. Deafness is often seen as a minor thing, but it affects your life so much, it really isn't. I hope your father finds a better solution, either through adjustment of his aids, or through personal acceptance of his deafness.

[ccarcher]

I understand your father's situation, and if the private aids are better than those on the NHS, and suit him them I would stick with them. I personally only wear one aid, even though I've been prescribed two, as I find two aids just far too much noise, and still can't her speech any better, so maybe he could try just using one aid and see if that's any better for him.

Sometimes it's easier to accept that you have a hearing loss, and just put up with the problems, instead of continually trying to get a better result, as it can be very wearing emotionally. It really does take some time to come to terms with being deaf, myself included, and coping with the day to day problems it brings can be very challenging. Deafness is often seen as a minor thing, but it affects your life so much, it really isn't. I hope your father finds a better solution, either through adjustment of his aids, or through personal acceptance of his deafness.

Thanks Mazzy for all your comments and nice to hear experiences of someone in a similar and unfortunate position

he certainly does seem to do better with 1 rather than 2, and I think as you say a lot of the problem stems from the frustrations that come with not always hearing everything

but I guess like you say and also in this day and age is probably under the impression that things should be that much better then what he is currently experiencing

although as you have said it may well be what he (and probably you also would like) is just not available out there anywhere on the market at the current time no matter what you are willing to pay

Just seems that in comparrisson say to the Optical and eyesight market where nowdays almost everything is available in order to improve the quality of site

The hearing market just does not seem to have kept par, maybe (although I dont really know) it was always thought of as an older generations problem, and therfore the usual its age related argument rears its head

Maybe in a few years, someone will realise that there is a very large market here to improve the quality of life for so many

[Mazzy]

If you're father is happier with just one aid, then I would suggest he only wears the one. I've had audiologist telling me for years that I should wear two, but they're my ears, and only I know what works best for me, the same for your father, listen to the audiologist by all means, but at the end of the day it's all about what works best for him.

You're so right in saying that the hearing aid market is slow off the mark when you consider the advances made in other markets, and I think one of the reasons is that it just doesn't generate the same kind of profits, unfortunately. :nonono: Also, correcting hearing is much more complicated than correcting short or long-sightedness. A hearing aid is really just a microphone, though the digital aids are far better than the analogue aids, so there has been some progress. There is research going on to hopefully one day be able to replace and regenerate the nerves in the ears, but this is quite a way into the future - I live in hope it may happen before I pop my clogs, lol!!! Advances have been made though, for example, the cochlear implant, but this is for people with virtually no hearing who can't be helped by a hearing aid, so in effect it is a permanent hearing aid implanted in the skull.

A helpful organisation for the deaf is www.rnid.org.uk and also www.hearingconcern.org.uk If your father hasn't already had contact with these two organisations, he may find them helpful in all things deaf-related. Hearing Concern is aimed more at the hard of hearing, while the RNID covers all levels of deafness.

[signtalker]

Can only really echo what Mazzy has said, My husband is deaf(wears 2 hearing aids and was offered a cochlear implant 5 years ago), I have been an intepreteur for the deaf for over 15 years and work with all levels of hearing loss, although Im now in the POlice force i still work tireleslly to promote deaf awareness.

In my line of work, sometimes you have to accept that hearing aids whether private or NHS dont work for everybody!!, some people favour wearing one, some wear two, and some prefer not to wear any, I certainly wouldnt pay any addtional money in the US for an aid, they all work on the same principal, and personally I think you would be throwing money down the drain.If your father feels happier with one then so be it, They cannot replace hearing and unfortunetly amplify all the sounds your father can hear as well as the ones he cant!
I wish you luck its not easy, but im sure mazzy or myself are happy to answer any questions via PM if you have any.
Jules

[ccarcher]

Can only really echo what Mazzy has said, My husband is deaf(wears 2 hearing aids and was offered a cochlear implant 5 years ago), I have been an intepreteur for the deaf for over 15 years and work with all levels of hearing loss, although Im now in the POlice force i still work tireleslly to promote deaf awareness.

In my line of work, sometimes you have to accept that hearing aids whether private or NHS dont work for everybody!!, some people favour wearing one, some wear two, and some prefer not to wear any, I certainly wouldnt pay any addtional money in the US for an aid, they all work on the same principal, and personally I think you would be throwing money down the drain.If your father feels happier with one then so be it, They cannot replace hearing and unfortunetly amplify all the sounds your father can hear as well as the ones he cant!
I wish you luck its not easy, but im sure mazzy or myself are happy to answer any questions via PM if you have any.
Jules

Thanks for the info, I dont think he is planning to throw any more money at it for now, I think he was just curious as to whether the level of service / knowledge was any better in the US

But it would appear as I initially thought and from the posts of yourself and Mazzy that the whole some subject is poorly managed the world over

and the frustrations of all who suffer will continue for many years to comes sadly