Hearing Aids. Info Needed.

[Parks 788]

Tons of great info. Need to check with my insurance on what they will cover. Have really good insurance through Blue Cross Gold Plan. Fingers crossed! Sounds like going to an audiologist is the best route to go and then figure out from there. Once I get tested I'll have to give Sams/Costco a shot since it seems like their service is pretty dang good.

Part of the need for the hearing aid need is what I'm seeing from my dad. He's 83his hearing is terrible. He also has memory loss that is progressing at a moderate clip. No dementia or Alzheimers and has been tested. From some of the Doctors reports it seems most of the issues is due to concussions and the like from his days playing football and rugby. Deterioration on his frontal lobe. My dad has expensive hearing aids but rarely wears them unless pressed to. At times, my mom, brother or I tell him firmly to go get them and put them in. He begrudingly puts them in but not for long. At large family dinners sitting at the table you can watch him sit there with sort of a blank look on his face because he can't hear anyone talking and is not a part of the groups conversations. He then gets upset with my mom that he feels left out of everything that is going on. Only because he won't wear his hearing aids, can't hear the convos and acts like we are not telling him things or ignoring him. His doctors have said not wearing his hearing aids doesn't make his memory loss progress faster but that there is a correlation between the two.

Anyways, Mrs 788 is thrilled I'm looking into getting something done about my piss poor hearing. And I don't want to go down the road my dad has gone. Appreciate all the intel given here.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

I did the free test at Sam’s, and also went to a true audiologist in Norman. At Sam’s, they program what they think is correct and allow you to walk around the store for a bit. A very significant difference with what my audiologist prescribed for me. Much better, and I have worn mine virtually everyday for close to four years now. I didn’t know how much I was not hearing or understanding. I don’t suggest doing health care on the cheap. Go the audiologist route

 

[jakeman]

Tons of great info. Need to check with my insurance on what they will cover. Have really good insurance through Blue Cross Gold Plan. Fingers crossed! Sounds like going to an audiologist is the best route to go and then figure out from there. Once I get tested I'll have to give Sams/Costco a shot since it seems like their service is pretty dang good.

Part of the need for the hearing aid need is what I'm seeing from my dad. He's 83his hearing is terrible. He also has memory loss that is progressing at a moderate clip. No dementia or Alzheimers and has been tested. From some of the Doctors reports it seems most of the issues is due to concussions and the like from his days playing football and rugby. Deterioration on his frontal lobe. My dad has expensive hearing aids but rarely wears them unless pressed to. At times, my mom, brother or I tell him firmly to go get them and put them in. He begrudingly puts them in but not for long. At large family dinners sitting at the table you can watch him sit there with sort of a blank look on his face because he can't hear anyone talking and is not a part of the groups conversations. He then gets upset with my mom that he feels left out of everything that is going on. Only because he won't wear his hearing aids, can't hear the convos and acts like we are not telling him things or ignoring him. His doctors have said not wearing his hearing aids doesn't make his memory loss progress faster but that there is a correlation between the two.

Anyways, Mrs 788 is thrilled I'm looking into getting something done about my piss poor hearing. And I don't want to go down the road my dad has gone. Appreciate all the intel given here.

If you don’t mind, please report back on your BCBS Gold plan benefit.

 

[jakeman]

I did the free test at Sam’s, and also went to a true audiologist in Norman. At Sam’s, they program what they think is correct and allow you to walk around the store for a bit. A very significant difference with what my audiologist prescribed for me. Much better, and I have worn mine virtually everyday for close to four years now. I didn’t know how much I was not hearing or understanding. I don’t suggest doing health care on the cheap. Go the audiologist route

Would you mind name dropping your guy in Norman?

 

[trekrok]

I really only struggle with hearing female and children's voices, so I view my hearing loss as net benefit.



Jk, sort of..

 

[DavidMcmillan]

Would you mind name dropping your guy in Norman?

Whitney Woods at Oklahoma Hearing Center, 3500 Rock Creek Rd

 

[Two Gun Warrior]

Hearing aids can be a pain, but I miss some sounds in the high end, rattle snakes, locusts crickets, and hearing soft voices. The starkeys that I have I can put my Walker ear muffs on over them and hear all sorts if things that I have been missing.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

I really only struggle with hearing female and children's voices, so I view my hearing loss as net benefit.



Jk, sort of..

When I first got tested for hearing loss the VA doc asked me when he was done if I struggled to hear what my wife was saying? I said I did...constantly. He explained the frequency range where the hearing loss was the worst was in a range where a lot of female voices are. He said it wasn't my fault I couldn't hear her. I laughed and jokingly asked him to write me a doctor's note that said that. He surprised me at the end of the visit by handing me this note:

Dear Carl's Wife: He can't hear you because you're a woman. [signed] Carl's Hearing Doctor

 

[DDriller]

Top of the line hearing aids that work fairly well will be between $5k - $7k. Costco or Sam's will be your best option for cheaper hearing aids $1100 - $1500. I know Costco does free hearing exams.
I have both Costco aids and a more top of the line aid. You will still have trouble with road noise and crowds but it is a little better.

 

[dennishoddy]

The military caused my hearing loss which is approaching profound as the years progress.
Fought the loss for years and the embarrassment that went with it. Wife finally convinced me to visit the VA and it went North from there.
They do provide the best HA’s available and you can pick which brand you prefer. I chose starkey. The only HA manufacturer still in the US.
Get a new set every 4 years. The improvements have been amazing over the years. I had to go back two generations when my current set had an issue and needed to be sent off for repairs. In just that length of time the quality of hearing in the old set was like going back to a model T for a daily driver.
These ones I’m wearing now that are due to be replaced later this month will translate 24 languages with an app to help, has custom sound settings like a sound bar where you can play with the frequencies to create custom settings that can be saved,
Has Bluetooth for phone calls and listening to music from an app. Our Roku TV has a setting that allows the HA’s to listen to the audio while the TV audio is muted so the wife next to me won’t be disturbed.
I listen to radio stations on Bluetooth in the truck when traveling while wife talks on the phone.
Sure I’m leaving out more features that are available.
One common complaint by folks new to HA’s is that they don’t like hearing sounds they haven’t heard in years and consider that annoying, which then has the aids put in the drawer, never to come out again.
As explained to me, the brain takes up to a month at times to get adjusted to the HA’s before it starts sounding “normal “.
I noticed a huge difference when going back to my old models and then back to the new after coming back from repair.
Most major brands will let a person return them after a 90 day trial. Phonak and Starkey will for sure.