Hearing Aids

[TrevorW]

For some time my wife and family have been complaining about me not hearing what they are saying when I had my back turned or was is another room, conversations in crowded places unless someone was sitting right next to me I'd only pick up bits and pieces of what others were saying within the group.



Now I've had my doubts as to the validity of these Hearing Center, their tests etc and the exorbitant cost of hearing aids in general but eventually I bit the bullet and have been fitted with a pair under the Govt scheme which reduced the overall cost significantly, now I can even hear the keyboard typing out these words, lo and behold I didn't know how loud someone crumbling a piece of paper could be.



Modern hearing aids depending on whether you have an Iphone can go as far as to pick up telephone calls etc, adjust bass treble etc and volume so you can program different hearing settings for different occasions, you can even mute them via a phone app. Although still getting used to them why didn't I do this years ago, embarrassment, pride, vanity any number of reasons but so far so good, so if someone says you may have a hearing problem get it checked and for those retirees with pension cards you could end up paying nothing

[multiweb (Marc)]

For an extra couple of bucks I hear you can tweak them to filter even more background noise like "Today's bin day!" or "When are you going to cut the lawn?" etc...

[TrevorW]

Originally Posted by multiweb

For an extra couple of bucks I hear you can tweak them to filter even more background noise like "Today's bin day!" or "When are you going to cut the lawn?" etc...

Yeah mine have a mute wife setting

[RB (Andrew)]

Mine has variable power.
Rated to unlimited selective whats????

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

it is a known fact
"men gain selective hearing the day their first born comes home from the hospital"

i pick up my new ears on the 12th of this month - could only afford an extra $600 for the middle of the road model - not the u-beauty connect to your phone model for an extra $3000

geoff

[GrahamL]

They are a big change Trevor

I recently lost one of mine insurance is usefull

Strangely because of my dud left ear I prefer wearing one and wont replace it .



For Tv i can thoroughly recomend these
Sennheiser - Rs 175 they are easily the best wireless over ears i have used and not to pricey.

[Crater101 (Warren)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

For an extra couple of bucks I hear you can tweak them to filter even more background noise like "Today's bin day!" or "When are you going to cut the lawn?" etc...

Sign me up! Please...

[AndyG (Andy)]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

For some time my wife and family have been complaining about me not hearing what they are saying when I had my back turned or was is another room, conversations in crowded places unless someone was sitting right next to me I'd only pick up bits and pieces of what others were saying within the group. ...

...Although still getting used to them why didn't I do this years ago, embarrassment, pride, vanity any number of reasons but so far so good, so if someone says you may have a hearing problem get it checked and for those retirees with pension cards you could end up paying nothing

Good on Ya Trevor - I for one am very happy to see you've done this. Earlier in the year I posted a thread begging for advice on how to motivate my Old Man to wear his hearing aids recently acquired. Long story short, this issue was contributing to a major fracture in the family. If there are any similarities with your family (hopefully not too many), you've done a wonderful thing. Please keep at it.

[glend (Glen)]

Trevor speaking from my own experience, and similiar pressures to get a hearing aid from my relations, I suggest you Don't settle for the government provided models. There is a big difference in noise filtering between cheap government sponsored aids and slightly more expensive models, which have band filtering. I tried the government supported aid and found it to be junk. Sure it boost sound but it boosts everything else as well. A good place to test them is in a busy coffee shop, mall, etc where there us a high base level of background noise. Compare them to the programmable noise filtering aids, there is a massive difference. I know a fair number of seniors who went for the government free aids and stop wearing them within a week, they are in a drawer at home now.
Spend a bit of your money to get the much better models, the government still kicks in their money, so you only pay the gap to get the better model. I paid about $1300 extra to get my very small, noise cancelling, Siemens Signia model, highly recommended.

[alan meehan (Alan)]

I dont know Glend i have government issue both ears have now for years my latest ones only got a few months back and are really great and comfortable
you have too work with your supplier ,iam now with the NDIS and have been granted top range because my hearing is so bad ,,,,whats that you said

[acropolite (Phil)]

I got hearing aids a little over 12 months ago. Like many, I didn't realise how bad my hearing was. It's amazing to hear birds chirping and frogs croaking again, being able to stream audio from the iPad is a bonus. Kitchen duties are a different story, the crashing of dishes at washup time is almost intolerable.

I paid dearly for my hardware not being eligible for any government subsidies.

[Hemi]

Originally Posted by alan meehan

I dont know Glend i have government issue both ears have now for years my latest ones only got a few months back and are really great and comfortable
you have too work with your supplier ,iam now with the NDIS and have been granted top range because my hearing is so bad ,,,,whats that you said

What you say here is very important Alan, the government does run a number of hearing programs, and most seniors and kids should qualify for fully funded hearing aids (as well as other groups, NDIS, VETS, Indiginous).

The aids should meet appropriate hearing requirements, and so, should your hearing require it, you may even get the best of the best.

Should your hearing become so bad that hearing aids are not adequate. Most states and territories do have funding (limited) for cochlear implants if appropriate.

...agree though that these programs could have clearer communication and eligibility pathways.

Cheers

Hemi

[DavidU (Dave)]

What ?