Hearing loss, don't want a hearing aide... is this you?

I took my sweet MIL in to Costco for hearing aids. She’s needed them for years, but has resisted. I guess she thought they’d make her look old. She’s 83

Hearing test revealed she has only 7% hearing remaining in one ear, 9% in the other. She was astonished at the difference hearing aids made for her. We are all so glad we don’t have to shout anymore.

Costco has the absolute best price in hearing aids and batteries. You will save thousands. They don’t even show behind your hair.

I think I still hear OK, but not like I did when I was younger.

I recently heard (sorry, lol) that there are options other than full blown $$$$ hearing aids.
Bose can now market an over the counter hearing aid.
THey have "hearphones" now. But I am thinking they were coming out with an actual hearing aid type model at some point.

Here are the Hearphones

They are about $500. Which is a fraction of the cost of hearing aids.

May I ask the price range from Costco?
 
A hearing test is on my “to do” list this year. I’m like sharlag. I know I’m missing a lot and it’s getting very annoying even to me to have to ask people to repeat what they said. I watch TV with the closed captioning on. Ugh. 

My in-laws spent $7000 a piece for their hearing aids a year or so before they died. They owed $11,000 which had to come out of their estate. 

I've been having trouble for the past year at least with the phone and soft spoken people. After a trip to the campus audiologist I have mild to moderate hearing loss... and have been told I would benefit from hearing aids but I've not followed up with it yet.

As a side note, he also told me there is evidence that loss of hearing is related to dementia due to loss of brain stimulation that hearing provides

My friend has the Bluetooth hearing aides and she loves them. It comes with an app for your smart phone that you can adjust depending on the environment

Me. I was given them, but they began by making the high frequencies so loud that they drowned out everything else, and the two circumstances that I really needed them for (TV and in church) they were no use whatsoever. I had them adjusted so the high frequencies weren't as loud, and then they didn't actually amplify anything at all. Also, they made my ears itch unbearably. I decided that on balance, it was easier just to keep saying "what?" The best thing about being given them was that my bat-eared DH at last took my crappy hearing seriously, and stopped grumbling every time I put the subtitles on.

I have had a difficult time hearing when there is background noise for years. (I became aware of it in my late 20s or early 30s, but I know I had mild difficulty before that.) I also think one of my ears works much better than the other. I suspect I'll need them at some point. It is kind of funny, because I've never done any of the things they tell you not to do!

DH gets no benefits (as far as $$), but he has gotten a free blood pressure machine and some other things when he goes to his doctor there.  I'll ask him if he can renew his info with them to see if it helps.  Thank you!  I hope it'll help!

My friend is an audiologist and said hearing aids from costco are crap and that's why they are so cheap because the quality is poor. We have a mutual friend who wears a hearing aid and she offered to outfit her with one for free because she was wearing a costco one. This same friend does botox in her office, so the practice must be doing well financially.

Hearing aids have the worst adoption rates.  No one wants them.  Everyone says it is because they cost too much but they have done numerous market studies in places where hearing aids are covered by insurance or national health plans, and the rates are the same.  They may say it's cost, but it is something else.  






I spend so much time counselling people because the hearing aids make so much noise.  I am constantly trying to convince people that with normal hearing, I hear all that noise too   Even that aside, most people tell me that they wish they had have gotten them sooner.

Most hearing aid companies have flex trials available so finding an audiologist/store that allows you to do a flex trial is great.  They will tune them, you can wear them for two weeks and try them out, either at no or very low cost. 


 



Did you try more than one style or make?  Sometimes even just getting a larger dome or a custom tip on the end reduces the itching.   As for the TV, almost all the hearing aids out there have TV streamers which stream directly to the hearing aids and really make a difference.  The bluetooth ones are great- and to be honest, a lot of our manufacturer reps wear the hearing aids all the time for the connectivity, and actually have normal hearing   I wouldn't give up- try someplace else maybe or ask about a different brand.  

Some are Siri enabled, so you just have to have your phone within Bluetooth range and you can access your phone hands free and have everything stream into your ear.

Costco hearing aids are fine.  The Costco brand manufactured by one of the largest hearing aid manufacturers and are quite similar.  The non-Costco brands are still sold there as well, but as I understand it (I haven't worked there) they are more expensive than the kirkland/rexton ones and similar to what you would find outside.  The biggest thing that you are committing to when you buy a Costco brand hearing aid is their care as they have proprietary software and should you wish to see a different audiologist, they wouldn't be able to adjust them.   Costco is a fine route to try, they just don't fit everyone. All hearing aids come with a return period so you can try out a place and their service and find the right fit. 

 

Rainy_Day_Woman thank you.

I agree!!

I've had them for quite a while now and the new ones are definitely better than the first ones I had. I think the biggest problem for me (besides the thousands of dollars they cost) is that my brain has not learned what noises are important and which ones can be ignored. A person without hearing loss hears the same noises as someone wearing hearing aids of course, but they have learned long ago that the clock ticking or the furnace firing up can be ignored; for me, every single noise is deemed important enough to listen to so it is overwhelming. My brain is getting better but I still can't do crowded rooms or street noise without a lot of stress.

I also don't care if anyone can see them and honestly most people are suprised when I say I wear them and I have shorter hair. I actually kind of wish they did notice them since it might make them a little more conscience about speaking clearly or not putting their hands in front of their mouths when they speak

So....on a related note. I refuse to hear music through ear pods because I do not want my hearing to go sooner than it has to.

Specifically speaking of the younger generation, I predict many will be needing hearing aids much, much earlier than older generations. Because I just know their music is probably on loud. However, I am not a doctor, and I am only speculating.