Hearing Aid Questions

[BrassMagnet]

I am on my 3rd set of behind the ear aids. The first set was Siemens which were about 4000 dollars and were the best face to face, they could not compete with nearby TVs, radios, lots of other people talking, machinery running. My next pair were VOX by Southwestern hearing aids. They were not much better, in fact no better in the competing dept. Now I have Signia which are a spinoff of Siemens. I got them thru the VA Hospital. They cost $7000 and are no better than any of the other, in fact they have crazy little things happening every now and then, such as one will make a trilling noise and then reset the volume to maximum. I do not have a chose to shop around as I don't have the money to do so. I am going back to the VA Hospital and ask to have then checked out. I also can't not wear them because I am stone deaf without them. So there you are and here I am and that's the show!
Ole Jack

The VA will fix those for life! Lifetime fix or replace. Have them fix the trilling one!

[dave524]

I am pretty much deaf in the left ear, well, except for the loud ringing , right ear is better but high frequencies are gone. I understand that the left ear is the first to go if you shoot off the right shoulder. I worked 30 plus years in a steel mill so I get workman's compensation to pay a big chunk on a disability claim . Been wearing a pair of Oticon Alta's , with the bluetooth thingy, they are customizable for volume and frequency response, in quiet situations they are great but if the wife tries talking to me with the TV going it just becomes a jumbled mess of words, same in a dept store with the muzak going. Last appointment with the eye doctor we got to talking and I said that the hearing aids were like a set of glasses that made everything bigger but still blurry, that pretty much sums up their usefulness in a busy environment.

[DDriller]

Resound digitals for the last few years. Put my old miracle ears to shame. The provider can wirelessly program and customize the settings. Also can have several presets you can change as well on your environment.
Best of all I can link them to my iPhone to change settings and make wireless hands free calls via Bluetooth.

Background noise is annoying but you soon tune it out and get used to it.

I use the Resound also. They have different cups that go in the ear that really help blocking out the background noise.

[PBSmith]

PBS - Yes I use the "Walker" as my hearing aids, as well as for shooting and hunting. I realize they are little more than amplifiers with a "blaster" shut-down feature, but to obtain the background noise "eliminator" so touted by the "audio" companies you need to: visit the "audio technician" (my in-law), take a "buzzer" test on a machine that describes to them "in detail" your hearing loss and how well you "press the button", and be sent home with a 4 or 5 thousand dollar unit that matches your "ear wax". You can then see your "audio specialist" once a month, depending on how often your new device needs tuning (more the better, but all in the "contract"), and only they can change the batteries and make the adjustments. Yes, I have very good vision and have become quite adept at "reading lips" when the "mumblers" and "low talkers" try to test my hearing ability, the rest I ignore after they turn their back to talk to the wall. I like "blue tooth" connections and "subtitles" on movies and programs where Hollywood has decided that the movies "music score" is more important than the "dialog" (which, with today's movies are "spot on".) Call me cheap, but I have reloading gear, casting gear; and guns to buy and very little left over for "appliances" that have a short life span, are "fussy" to use, and that aggravate the **** out of me even when they work. Thus, the Walker Game Ear until I am so old I crave the company of a audio specialist to pass my time. (We don't have a Cosco or Sam's near where we live, either.) My rant with tongue firmly in cheek.

Good rant. I'm looking forward to trying the Game Ear. Thanks