What's new

Hearing Aids - Best Place to Buy ?

DRD

DRD

Registered
Joined
Oct 26, 2014
Messages
5,441
Location
Newark
These things are surprisingly expensive

Where is the best place to buy them pls ?

Thanks
 
NHS certainly do free o e though ot sure of the qualification criteria.
Apparently they are not great though because they just amplify "all the things"
I gather expensive ones do t
 
I would recommend the NHS or the Access to Work scheme. Hearing gets worse over time, so you may have to shell out for a new one every year if going privately. If you do decide to go privately, then I’d recommend Specsavers believe it or not!
 
HomerRamone said:
NHS certainly do free o e though ot sure of the qualification criteria.
Apparently they are not great though because they just amplify "all the things"
I gather expensive ones do t
Click to expand...

The NHS ones haven't done that for years, these days they map your hearing deficiencies and programme them to compensate.
 
Moonraker said:
The NHS ones haven't done that for years, these days they map your hearing deficiencies and programme them to compensate.
Click to expand...
So, in theory they are as good as anything in the private sector? I am interested because my Dad has NHS ones and he still can't hear properly. He just blames everyone for talking too fast.
 
Paul R Owen said:
So, in theory they are as good as anything in the private sector?
Click to expand...
Yes.
Paul R Owen said:
I am interested because my Dad has NHS ones and he still can't hear properly. He just blames everyone for talking too fast.
Click to expand...
They still require maintenance and cleaning. If they're not kept clean then they can be easily blocked (ear wax). Most NHS users are supposed to be called up every 6 months for this but most don't. I phone up and ask every 4 or 5 years or when I need batteries.
 
Moonraker said:
The NHS ones haven't done that for years, these days they map your hearing deficiencies and programme them to compensate.
Click to expand...
Well it was a friend who's dad got the NHS ones around 8 months ago that said this so I don't know myself.
My dad got some around 4 months ago but refuses to put them in - so unsurprisingly they don't help his hearing at all 😁
 
Pretty sure they won't do that regardless for hygiene reasons at the very least.
He hasn't said he's never going to use them. But he's 83 and stubborn. (and also has other health issues currently)
 
Paul R Owen said:
So, in theory they are as good as anything in the private sector? I am interested because my Dad has NHS ones and he still can't hear properly. He just blames everyone for talking too fast.
Click to expand...
There's a common misconception in my experience that if you are hearing impaired, a hearing aid makes your hearing perfect again. I've gone deaf in one ear, after several surgeries to try to fix it, I now wear a hearing aid. It is an improvement over not wearing a hearing aid, but it's not the same as having perfect hearing. The ear still doesn;t work properly. Increasing the volume doesn't change that. I can head some frequencies in that ear that I otherwise wouldn;t, but they are still much quieter and more distorted than they are in my good ear. They are something to help, not something that fixes the problem.

Try to help your dad. It's very difficult for people with hearing impairments, especially if you're in a group with multiple people talking. I struggle a lot with that - I will generally only be able to hold a conversation with somebody sitting next to me in that situation. It is always the case that I can only properly tell what somebody is saying if they are in the same room - If somebody calls to me from another room, I can hear that they said something, I can't hear WHAT they said. I also need them to be looking at me. we all do unconcious lipreading, and it becomes very important when you're hearing impaired - it was so so difficult for me when we were all wearing masks. If you're not looking at me I will hear maybe 2 out of 3 words that you say, and try to fill in the gaps, often wrongly.

So try to help your dad by looking at him when you speak, and accept that you may have to repeat things a couple of times anyway. It's a fact of life with people that are hearing impaired.
 
Martywolfman said:
There's a common misconception in my experience that if you are hearing impaired, a hearing aid makes your hearing perfect again. I've gone deaf in one ear, after several surgeries to try to fix it, I now wear a hearing aid. It is an improvement over not wearing a hearing aid, but it's not the same as having perfect hearing. The ear still doesn;t work properly. Increasing the volume doesn't change that. I can head some frequencies in that ear that I otherwise wouldn;t, but they are still much quieter and more distorted than they are in my good ear. They are something to help, not something that fixes the problem.
Click to expand...
Makes sense - but not wearing them means they are never going to help !

Martywolfman said:
Try to help your dad. It's very difficult for people with hearing impairments, especially if you're in a group with multiple people talking. I struggle a lot with that - I will generally only be able to hold a conversation with somebody sitting next to me in that situation. It is always the case that I can only properly tell what somebody is saying if they are in the same room - If somebody calls to me from another room, I can hear that they said something, I can't hear WHAT they said. I also need them to be looking at me. we all do unconcious lipreading, and it becomes very important when you're hearing impaired - it was so so difficult for me when we were all wearing masks. If you're not looking at me I will hear maybe 2 out of 3 words that you say, and try to fill in the gaps, often wrongly.
Click to expand...
Yeah - weve been doing that - talking louder and such so that he has a chance to hear. To complicate matters of course he doesnt let on when he hasn't heard and best guesses what he thinks you heard.
"Were there many people out last night"
"Not sure he never said"
So then you say it a little louder - and he hears you this time - and complains "I know what you said I heard you"

And yeah - masks wont help here. He is currently in hospital and just to help things along there's covid in the room of the ward he is in - so masks need to be worn.
They were doing a cognition test on him yesterday - not sure if the person doing it was aware he was deaf or not - but they were AIUI wearing a mask which i'm sure didn't help. :(
 
HomerRamone said:
Makes sense - but not wearing them means they are never going to help !


Yeah - weve been doing that - talking louder and such so that he has a chance to hear. To complicate matters of course he doesnt let on when he hasn't heard and best guesses what he thinks you heard.
"Were there many people out last night"
"Not sure he never said"
So then you say it a little louder - and he hears you this time - and complains "I know what you said I heard you"

And yeah - masks wont help here. He is currently in hospital and just to help things along there's covid in the room of the ward he is in - so masks need to be worn.
They were doing a cognition test on him yesterday - not sure if the person doing it was aware he was deaf or not - but they were AIUI wearing a mask which i'm sure didn't help. :(
Click to expand...
 
Great post! Also, at Xmas we had all the family around and I struggled a lot to hear. We found a phone app that everyone logs into, I can’t recall the name atm. But by keeping their phone close by, I could see in real-time what everyone was saying! I didn’t even need to lip- read as I could see the conversations on my phone!
 
my dad who is 83 went down the private route and they weren`t worth the money . tried the ones offered by the nhs and 100 % better, couldn`t fault them for aftercare and quality
 
My Father has NHS ones, never had a problem, he gets regular appointments for hearing checks where they also clean and ‘adjust/tune’ them to work best for his needs.

My Great Aunt spent a small/medium sized fortune on private ones (in Scotland about 10/15 years ago) they were never really very good.

There’s always the shoe lace, one shoe lace, tie a knot in one end, push the knot into your ear, the other end in your top pocket, people see this and shout!

Try the NHS!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom