Hi all - we won't know diagnosis and needs until mom sees the hearing doctor(s) but right now she is nearly deaf in one ear and major major hearing loss in the other.
We are financially savings poor. I have a list of charitable organizations to call. Her insurance will pay $500. Mom is nearly 89. Her income is always just too high for Medicaid but I can check if they would pay for something. Also possibly VA as a last resort.
My question is, after reading so much here about $6000 hearing aids getting lost or ultimately rejected, broken, replaced, what is a reasonable price point for this first purchase? We cant afford to throw the money away.
Also, do you consider an online subscription to consumer reports worth it to get comparisons and ratings on hearing aids? I tried researching online today and consumer reports would not release their data without a membership fee.
Thank you!!
PS: the shouting for social distancing is causing me bronchitis and triggering tinnitis. I'm an asthmatic, recovering still Covid positive, and reaching my limit. I may be going deaf myself at 57 from the shouting..
I write from the patients perspective. I was first diagnosed with Early Onset ALZ 5 yrs ago next month. I have been commenting on my journey since 2016. Most recently I had a Neuropsych Exam, that said I need 24/7 care, which was a knockdown blow to me. My DW and I still have an appointment in 2 weeks to find out how he came to this conclusion. My Neuro Doctor who has been my Doctor since Christmas 2005 and my PC say No way am I in need of 24/7 care. Anyway, I just want to keep being direct, and putting my cards on the table from my perspective.
I was diagnosed two years ago with a hearing loss, mostly attributable to wearing headphones for 38yrs of my career in the travel industry. More significant in the left ear than the right ear. Being diagnosed with ALZ, I wasn't too interested in spending for $4000.00 on one set of hearing aids. I did some research on Hearing Assist and a company named MD Hearing Aids. MD was a bit more expensive than Hearing Assist. I bought the VOLT series of MD Hearing's hearing aids, and paid circa $700.00 and have been using them for just about 40 days. Yes, for the most part they are comfortable, and having been retired for 5 yrs, I am able to hear all that I want to and feel I made the best choice for me.
Yes, I have some trouble manipulating them to put on my ears, yes, I can hear much better. When in crowds they seem more difficult to hear what is going on with my family speaking to me. Could I have spent $4000.00 yes, but I don't think I am going to live long enough to justify spending that kind of money. The product that I chose for myself works just fine for me. My Opinion and we know we all have them and like something else we all have _________, fill in the blank.
I hope my friends and fellow patients are finding my suggestions as being valuable.
Unless you WANT to use the aids, you won't.
My DH finally, finally had his hearing checked 2 years ago. He went with the absolute top of the line aids--and won't wear them. $6500 down the drain.
In spite of a very intensive hearing exam and ZERO pressure from the tech, he would not believe that he has serious hearing loss. I was in the room during the test, but not in the BOOTH. So there was no way I could 'rig' this test. He simply failed it with flying colors. Blamed me.
It's his CHOICE to walk around, missing 80% of the conversations, missing the funny things the grandkids say, missing the announcement of his FLIGHT NOW BEING BOARDED (that's happened a few too many times).
My neighbor went to Costco and got the mid range ones and wears them and it's no big deal. He said he spent less than $1000. The cost does and doesn't reflect the qaulity of the aids--it's up to person whether they will put in the work to adapt to hearing all the ambient sounds they don't realize are there.
Living with an almost entirely deaf person has caused ME so much stress it's crazy. Luckily for us, my hearing is really, really good, so that's saved us a few times. BUT, if I had his hearing loss, I would address it and not blame him. His sister has it also (genetic) and she got aids and nothing was said about it--she just said she couldn't believe she went so long without dealing with the hearing loss. His mother is about 90% deaf and she can't hear anything, really. He gets so frustrated with her and I have pointed out that I feel the same way about him.
You can lead a horse to water.....
The amplifier came with earbuds, but I also bought her a cheap sony headset to use and she prefers that--also more difficult to misplace. onus-she can plug the earbuds or headset into her ipad to listen to music.
Hope this might be of help. I primarily just help those struggling on the phone with our federally funded caption phone. Wish I could be of more help but blessed to at least help with the telephone portion. Good luck!
You will learn more once you see the audiologist. Don't let them "sell" you.
Some are more about the money than others.
I think the behind the ear works best for major hearing loss.
One that is simple to use, some are very complicated with several programs on them that make them hard to use.
I used to work for an ENT office that sold hearing aids and got one for my right ear.
My problem is understanding the words. The hearing aid amplies and makes the
noises louder (which is annoying at first) but no matter how loud I still can't
understand conversation! Frustrating. The digital kind can be programmed for
specific hearing loss and you can go back for adjusting, up or down.
Most hearing aid retailers will offer you a 30 day trial period.
Best of luck!
https://www.hearingtracker.com/over-the-counter-hearing-aids
I've read articles that it's expected that other companies, such as BOSE (they produce high quality stereo speakers for example), may get into the business thus increasing options and updating technology. And ultimately the competition may help to reduce prices.
In the meantime, for low cost alternatives to prescription hearing aids, it might be worth checking into over-the-counter hearing assistance devices, especially if money is an issue. While these may not be sufficient for extreme hearing loss, the cost/benefit may be worth it if it helps somewhat and there's a concern about hearing aids being constantly lost or misplaced.
In answer to your question, I would urge you to answer some other questions. Does your mother want to hear better or do YOU want her to hear better? Is your mother willing to work at re-learning some skills she has lost? If she is nearly deaf her brain has lost the ability to tune out background noise and focus on the person she is trying to hear. This will take months to re-learn and it will be frustrating for her. Unless she really wants to hear you clearly, it will not be worth the bother to her.
If you are considering low-cost amplifiers understand that they are not hearing aids. They cannot be tuned to amplify the frequencies that your mother most needs. They amplify everything equally. She will hear your voice, but she will also hear competing sounds: creaking doors, noisy birds, the air moving through the HVAC system.
For younger people who are really interested in getting back in touch with the world around them and who are ready to work at learning to hear again, I would definitely try for aids. In the case of an older person with severe loss like your mom I might incline toward first getting one of the amplifiers you can get online for a hundred dollars and see if she will use it. If she uses it, then consider real hearing aids.
Look at the websites of the manufacturers. They will give you lots of information on what their aids do best. No aid can reproduce the hearing of a healthy 20 year old, but all aids offer a particular focus. Find an aid whose focus matches what your mother will find most appealing. Most have reviews or forums where users describe their own experiences. Perhaps your Mom would do well on an aid that I would find inadequate.
Bear in mind that many audiologists will refit used hearing aids for new patients who have financial constraints. I am considering getting new aids this summer. If I do I will donate my current aids to such a person. The outer shield that contacts the moist portion of the ear is replaced and the aids are re-tuned for the needs of the new patient. In this way someone in your position will get a gently used pair of $5K aids for the cost of cleaning and tuning and a couple of appointments.
I wish you luck. I do know what it is like to have a parent who does not hear. It was really frustrating to all of us when Mom gradually stopped using her aids because they were a bother to her. She does not seem to understand that her not being able to hear is a bother to everyone else.
By the way, shouting is not always necessary. We have found that if we can make her focus on our faces when we talk and if we speak very clearly and slowly, enunciating things a little overmuch, she will understand most of what we have to say. We began this when she was cutting back on the use of her aids. She can understand the slightly exaggerated pronunciations with, perhaps a bit of lip-reading that she doesn't know she can do.
My father got the expensive hearing aids (they were $4000 at the time) and they were programmed to his specific needs with the option to re-tune. But you have to make choices. Even though we kept trying to turn down background noise, he always complained I was crashing around with plates when I emptied the dishwasher. He also thought I was suddenly loud. His hearing aids supposedly had a switch to tune out noise except for the minister at church (the church had a special T-wire system for sound) but he never noticed any difference. He also never realized when the battery was dead, but I knew immediately because the TV was turned up too loud. (One of the benefits of hearing loss was not hearing the chirping of the smoke alarm system when the battery went out.)
For myself, I have noticed a tendency to turn up the volume on some TV shows but am trying to keep it down to force myself to listen more. My sister purchased an amplifier hearing aid for one ear in which she has hearing loss from an ear infection and she is quite happy with them.