Hearing/Tinnitus and hearing aids
Discussion
I've been putting it off for ages but its a man thing I guess. I suffer quite badly from tinnitus...have done for about 20 years. A continual high pitched tone is mine! Had a hearing test when I left the Mob 25 yrs ago and then another 5 years ago. Quite a decline in higher freq's. So had another a cpla weeks ago and its gone worse. Higher freq's have gone....when listening to the TV or radio I hear a lot of bass and have had to turn the vol up a bit, much to the annoyance of Mrs Romft.
So next month I am booked in for a fit for nhs behind the year jobbies.....BUT being quite vain, I will probably not wear them outside/pub/restaurant etc but only when watching TV indoors/private etc.
BUT I have a savings policy maturing soon and a couple of grand could go to getting better "in ear" aids.
So this is a general ? What ones do you have....have you splashed the cash...and bought something nice...really good etc. Pros/cons etc. Am surfing and reading all about bluetooth capabilities etc.....
Ty
So next month I am booked in for a fit for nhs behind the year jobbies.....BUT being quite vain, I will probably not wear them outside/pub/restaurant etc but only when watching TV indoors/private etc.
BUT I have a savings policy maturing soon and a couple of grand could go to getting better "in ear" aids.
So this is a general ? What ones do you have....have you splashed the cash...and bought something nice...really good etc. Pros/cons etc. Am surfing and reading all about bluetooth capabilities etc.....
Ty
First to say the NHS hearing aids are not too bad these days - the only fiddle is that a lot of them need batteries. Most of them are bluetooth enabled and you can adjust through an app. There are lots of "in ear" aids that sit in a charger overnight which you can buy from popular outlets (such as Hidden Hearing) but in my case I bought a pair privately through the NHS. Costs vary but you should be able to get something reasonable for about £2K. I was advised to use them most of the time to stop hearing getting worse. I doubt it will do much for your tinnitus - but worth a shot.
It may be that the in ear ones aren't powerful enough.
Beggarall said:
I doubt it will do much for your tinnitus - but worth a shot.
I find it really helps. I also have worse high frequency loss and if I don't wear them my tinnitus ramps up. Think the theory is that your brain tries to up the HF volume to compensate for the ear's failings. (tiredness and stress don't help either) After a head injury 10+ years ago I'm pretty mutton, with tinnitus thrown in too.
I never went for the NHS external aids but went straight for the in-ear buds, so can't compare the two.
The in-ear ones came from, confusingly, Specsavers, at about £2K. There was a trial period iirc, where I could have returned them after a few weeks if I wasn't getting on with them.
Pros:
Almost invisible once in the ear 'ole.
Very light so fairly comfortable, - similar to any ear bud type of ear phones and after a while you'll forget you're wearing them.
Programmable, so you, or your audiologist, can program them to suit your frequency profile.
I've accidentally swam once or twice with them in, and they were ok, so I'd say they're pretty robust.
Support from Specsavers is very good.
You can use 'over the ear' headphones to listen to music etc
TV speakers probably last longer...
Cons, although these might apply to external aids too:
The batteries are tiny and with daily use last about 5 days.
Having something in your ear all the time encourages wax build up, which then gets compacted, so wax removal is required every few months.
Easily lost if you don't get into a routine of putting them in/taking them out.
No bluetooth.
I'd say it was a game changer for me, and when I take them out it's a similar experience to switching on a pair of noise cancelling headphones, but everyone is going to be different.
Good luck.
I never went for the NHS external aids but went straight for the in-ear buds, so can't compare the two.
The in-ear ones came from, confusingly, Specsavers, at about £2K. There was a trial period iirc, where I could have returned them after a few weeks if I wasn't getting on with them.
Pros:
Almost invisible once in the ear 'ole.
Very light so fairly comfortable, - similar to any ear bud type of ear phones and after a while you'll forget you're wearing them.
Programmable, so you, or your audiologist, can program them to suit your frequency profile.
I've accidentally swam once or twice with them in, and they were ok, so I'd say they're pretty robust.
Support from Specsavers is very good.
You can use 'over the ear' headphones to listen to music etc
TV speakers probably last longer...
Cons, although these might apply to external aids too:
The batteries are tiny and with daily use last about 5 days.
Having something in your ear all the time encourages wax build up, which then gets compacted, so wax removal is required every few months.
Easily lost if you don't get into a routine of putting them in/taking them out.
No bluetooth.
I'd say it was a game changer for me, and when I take them out it's a similar experience to switching on a pair of noise cancelling headphones, but everyone is going to be different.
Good luck.
Thanks all for the above.
Its partly the vain man in me about wearing them out in public etc. Dont go to the cinema often these days as we have a feckin big tv with great sound...and all I hear in a cinema is the asshole sat next to munching away.....Pubs, noisy anyway so just chill out there. Its more of in house/tv watching etc. I wouldnt wear ITE all the time anyway but a bit of a shock reading the crap battery life.
Have heard about specsavers being one of the top hearing folks along with boots!
Bluetooth seemed interesting as I love the radio and the Mrs,...meh.
Will see what more comments bring re ITE/around the back
Its partly the vain man in me about wearing them out in public etc. Dont go to the cinema often these days as we have a feckin big tv with great sound...and all I hear in a cinema is the asshole sat next to munching away.....Pubs, noisy anyway so just chill out there. Its more of in house/tv watching etc. I wouldnt wear ITE all the time anyway but a bit of a shock reading the crap battery life.
Have heard about specsavers being one of the top hearing folks along with boots!
Bluetooth seemed interesting as I love the radio and the Mrs,...meh.
Will see what more comments bring re ITE/around the back
romft123 said:
BUT I have a savings policy maturing soon and a couple of grand could go to getting better "in ear" aids.
They won't be "better" for hearing, but almost certainly worse. They will be "better" for not being on show. Most NHS trusts are using Oticon Bluetooth aids, which are excellent. They won't be the latest model, a bit like getting an iPhone 14 now.My son has private in ear buds from Specsavers, but never wears them, as the NHS aids are so much better.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
romft123 said:
BUT I have a savings policy maturing soon and a couple of grand could go to getting better "in ear" aids.
They won't be "better" for hearing, but almost certainly worse. They will be "better" for not being on show. Most NHS trusts are using Oticon Bluetooth aids, which are excellent. They won't be the latest model, a bit like getting an iPhone 14 now.My son has private in ear buds from Specsavers, but never wears them, as the NHS aids are so much better.
OP, off the bat I would suggest just getting some hearing aids off the NHS and let it be known to the audiologist that you're keen to pay for better hearing aids if that is an option. Throughout the process try and take ownership of your hearing and don't just accept what you're given and decide from there whether they are great or rubbish. There are multiple settings that can be tweaked to ensure you are given an optimal hearing experience.
Yes, very programmable and I even have a remote that I can use to change the settings depending on environment such as when I'm in a crowd or a lecture. Some of these remotes can also be used as a microphone and isolate sound around you so that you only hear what is coming through the device mic - useful for lectures or similar scenarios.
Cons:
Batteries last me 5 days too but I wear my hearing aids from when I wake up to when I go to sleep so 50-70 hours per battery is pretty good especially if you're gain settings are turned up to 11 like mine.
I am fortunate that I don't suffer from the wax build up and haven't had ear wax removal in years but I'm curious as to where folk go for this nowadays as I know that most GP's/nurses no longer provide this service.
Yep, lost a fair few over the years when I haven't been too clever about where I put them. Even lost a pair in a scrap on a stag do, smashed inside my ear as I took two of his best from another lad...
Bluetooth is readily available now from certain brands but it isn't for me. I can still use Airpods on max volume and prefer the visual detterent compared to headphones, I'm less likely to be disturbed by others if it is clear to see that I have my Airpods on for a call or music. I don't think the quality is all there yet and it is a further drain on the battery life too.
My son has private in ear buds from Specsavers, but never wears them, as the NHS aids are so much better.I don't think it is correct to claim that ITE aids will be worse than BTE aids, not in this day and age.
There could be a number of reasons why your son thinks the NHS aids are better, if that were the case then why keep the Specsavers ones and not just return them whilst you could? A lot of money down the drain to just decide they are crap. Your son may benefit from asking the audiologist to change some settings or carry out further hearing tests to ensure they are set correctly for his hearing loss.
Source: Father, three brothers and myself have all worn private hearing aids for 25+ years. I have a daughter, nephew and niece with the same type of hearing loss who all have NHS hearing aids which work fine. There is no real point in paying for private ones until teenage years as they will grow out of several pairs by then.
I have pushed my own daughter to recognise and take ownership of her own hearing loss and I think this is a key aspect in how much you get out of them. At age 3 she is able to tell me when the batteries have died, when they are too quiet or when the TV or conversation is too loud and hurting her ears. We have been able to use that feedback to tweak the settings until she seems happy and unhindered in her language development. That's the benefit of the collective family experience I guess as I have met other parents who aren't quite sure or assertive enough when understanding the scope of the service that should be provided to them. I guess the same can be said for other industries and services!
As for mitigating effects of tinnitus, I have no experience of this but research supporting this is out there and most seems to suggest that a sustained wearing of the hearing aids is key to reducing issues with tinnitus.
OP, this link is useful to understanding the different types of hearing aids with a brief pros/cons for each, I've only ever used this brand but others I know swear by Phonak whilst my brothers have moved onto a different brand altogether but I forget the name: Starkey hearing aid types
Custerdome said:
After a head injury 10+ years ago I'm pretty mutton, with tinnitus thrown in too.
I never went for the NHS external aids but went straight for the in-ear buds, so can't compare the two.
The in-ear ones came from, confusingly, Specsavers, at about £2K. There was a trial period iirc, where I could have returned them after a few weeks if I wasn't getting on with them.
Pros:
Programmable, so you, or your audiologist, can program them to suit your frequency profile.
Cons, although these might apply to external aids too:
The batteries are tiny and with daily use last about 5 days.
Having something in your ear all the time encourages wax build up, which then gets compacted, so wax removal is required every few months.
Easily lost if you don't get into a routine of putting them in/taking them out.
No bluetooth.
Pros: I never went for the NHS external aids but went straight for the in-ear buds, so can't compare the two.
The in-ear ones came from, confusingly, Specsavers, at about £2K. There was a trial period iirc, where I could have returned them after a few weeks if I wasn't getting on with them.
Pros:
Programmable, so you, or your audiologist, can program them to suit your frequency profile.
Cons, although these might apply to external aids too:
The batteries are tiny and with daily use last about 5 days.
Having something in your ear all the time encourages wax build up, which then gets compacted, so wax removal is required every few months.
Easily lost if you don't get into a routine of putting them in/taking them out.
No bluetooth.
Yes, very programmable and I even have a remote that I can use to change the settings depending on environment such as when I'm in a crowd or a lecture. Some of these remotes can also be used as a microphone and isolate sound around you so that you only hear what is coming through the device mic - useful for lectures or similar scenarios.
Cons:
Batteries last me 5 days too but I wear my hearing aids from when I wake up to when I go to sleep so 50-70 hours per battery is pretty good especially if you're gain settings are turned up to 11 like mine.
I am fortunate that I don't suffer from the wax build up and haven't had ear wax removal in years but I'm curious as to where folk go for this nowadays as I know that most GP's/nurses no longer provide this service.
Yep, lost a fair few over the years when I haven't been too clever about where I put them. Even lost a pair in a scrap on a stag do, smashed inside my ear as I took two of his best from another lad...
Bluetooth is readily available now from certain brands but it isn't for me. I can still use Airpods on max volume and prefer the visual detterent compared to headphones, I'm less likely to be disturbed by others if it is clear to see that I have my Airpods on for a call or music. I don't think the quality is all there yet and it is a further drain on the battery life too.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
romft123 said:
BUT I have a savings policy maturing soon and a couple of grand could go to getting better "in ear" aids.
They won't be "better" for hearing, but almost certainly worse. They will be "better" for not being on show. Most NHS trusts are using Oticon Bluetooth aids, which are excellent. They won't be the latest model, a bit like getting an iPhone 14 now.My son has private in ear buds from Specsavers, but never wears them, as the NHS aids are so much better.
There could be a number of reasons why your son thinks the NHS aids are better, if that were the case then why keep the Specsavers ones and not just return them whilst you could? A lot of money down the drain to just decide they are crap. Your son may benefit from asking the audiologist to change some settings or carry out further hearing tests to ensure they are set correctly for his hearing loss.
Source: Father, three brothers and myself have all worn private hearing aids for 25+ years. I have a daughter, nephew and niece with the same type of hearing loss who all have NHS hearing aids which work fine. There is no real point in paying for private ones until teenage years as they will grow out of several pairs by then.
I have pushed my own daughter to recognise and take ownership of her own hearing loss and I think this is a key aspect in how much you get out of them. At age 3 she is able to tell me when the batteries have died, when they are too quiet or when the TV or conversation is too loud and hurting her ears. We have been able to use that feedback to tweak the settings until she seems happy and unhindered in her language development. That's the benefit of the collective family experience I guess as I have met other parents who aren't quite sure or assertive enough when understanding the scope of the service that should be provided to them. I guess the same can be said for other industries and services!
As for mitigating effects of tinnitus, I have no experience of this but research supporting this is out there and most seems to suggest that a sustained wearing of the hearing aids is key to reducing issues with tinnitus.
Edited by beambeam1 on Wednesday 22 January 22:50
OP, this link is useful to understanding the different types of hearing aids with a brief pros/cons for each, I've only ever used this brand but others I know swear by Phonak whilst my brothers have moved onto a different brand altogether but I forget the name: Starkey hearing aid types
Edited by beambeam1 on Wednesday 22 January 22:54
romft123 said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
romft123 said:
BUT I have a savings policy maturing soon and a couple of grand could go to getting better "in ear" aids.
They won't be "better" for hearing, but almost certainly worse. They will be "better" for not being on show. Most NHS trusts are using Oticon Bluetooth aids, which are excellent. They won't be the latest model, a bit like getting an iPhone 14 now.My son has private in ear buds from Specsavers, but never wears them, as the NHS aids are so much better.
beambeam1 said:
I don't think it is correct to claim that ITE aids will be worse than BTE aids, not in this day and age.
Well I'm just going by my experiences. FiL was deaf, wife has one cochlear implant and one hearing aid, both sons wear hearing aids. Every audiologist we have seen has said that an ITE aid will not be as effective as an OTE. Even the guy in Specsavers agreed, although he claims it wasn't far off and worth it for the benefit of not having it on display. My eldest lad only wears the ITE aids very occasionally, the youngest never even bothered based on the experiences of my older lad. Plus the youngest has long hair, the older one doesn't.
I went down the private route. Was tested and had lost high frequency but the audiologist said that I was on the "edge" of needing some help. They arranged a 1 month trial with "on ear" Oticon. Game changer. Wow......because your hearing generally deteriorates over time, you accomodate to the extent you really don't know how bad your hearing has become.
I have Oticon Real 1 miniRITE R ... coming up to 2 years old later this year.
In terms of visibility, I went to see a friend for coffee and it was only 2 hours later when I gave her a hug as we were leaving she realised I was wearing them !!! ...... and I'm a baldy :-). You can get the in different colours to match skin tone or grey / bald like me LOL.
On ear were recommended as we didn't want to "block" base sounds, only amplify high frequencies and it was recommended on ear with "open" cups as the best solution for me (I was originally thinking "in ear" too)....so my recommendation would be to not go with a particular solution in mind and listen to what the audiologist says and/or recommends as right for you.
One thing to note, my audiologist recommended that I wear them ALL the time. It takes a few weeks for the brain to recalibrate and you might have some problems just wearing them intermittently........hearing aids is a bit weird, no one bats an eye at people wearing glasses but hearing aids seem to have an odd stigma......anyway....I wear mine all the time...... it generated quite a lot of chat at work and you'd be surprised at how many people either don't consider their hearing ..... or are already wearing an aid (I found my boss had one but because she had longish hair it was never visible).
Do it, and wear them. In my experience, it was a game changer. I also use them to bluetooth to ipad to watch stuff and not annoy the other half, or when travelling to bluetooth to my phone for spotify.
Mine are rechargables.....they last about 20+hours....then recharge in about 3hrs I think. I have a recharger at home I slip them into at night but also bought a travel recharger case a bit like ipod case as I travel with work and for holidays. It gives 3 nights charging before it needs topped up (simple USB).
I have Oticon Real 1 miniRITE R ... coming up to 2 years old later this year.
In terms of visibility, I went to see a friend for coffee and it was only 2 hours later when I gave her a hug as we were leaving she realised I was wearing them !!! ...... and I'm a baldy :-). You can get the in different colours to match skin tone or grey / bald like me LOL.
On ear were recommended as we didn't want to "block" base sounds, only amplify high frequencies and it was recommended on ear with "open" cups as the best solution for me (I was originally thinking "in ear" too)....so my recommendation would be to not go with a particular solution in mind and listen to what the audiologist says and/or recommends as right for you.
One thing to note, my audiologist recommended that I wear them ALL the time. It takes a few weeks for the brain to recalibrate and you might have some problems just wearing them intermittently........hearing aids is a bit weird, no one bats an eye at people wearing glasses but hearing aids seem to have an odd stigma......anyway....I wear mine all the time...... it generated quite a lot of chat at work and you'd be surprised at how many people either don't consider their hearing ..... or are already wearing an aid (I found my boss had one but because she had longish hair it was never visible).
Do it, and wear them. In my experience, it was a game changer. I also use them to bluetooth to ipad to watch stuff and not annoy the other half, or when travelling to bluetooth to my phone for spotify.
Mine are rechargables.....they last about 20+hours....then recharge in about 3hrs I think. I have a recharger at home I slip them into at night but also bought a travel recharger case a bit like ipod case as I travel with work and for holidays. It gives 3 nights charging before it needs topped up (simple USB).
Edited by Steve Campbell on Thursday 23 January 12:45
Edited by Steve Campbell on Thursday 23 January 12:51
Been wearing mine for a good few years now. Being profoundly deaf, it does the best it can for me, although I may go back to the NHS to ask if mine can be upgraded as they sometimes fail to connect to my phone (Pixel 7, call to read feature is a game changer for me when on calls).
Wear them with pride, but I've noticed my hearing is better when I take them down one notch from where they best for my heating as otherwise they hurt after prolonged use.
Wear them with pride, but I've noticed my hearing is better when I take them down one notch from where they best for my heating as otherwise they hurt after prolonged use.
romft123 said:
Thanks all for the above.
Its partly the vain man in me about wearing them out in public etc. Dont go to the cinema often these days as we have a feckin big tv with great sound...and all I hear in a cinema is the asshole sat next to munching away.....Pubs, noisy anyway so just chill out there. Its more of in house/tv watching etc. I wouldnt wear ITE all the time anyway but a bit of a shock reading the crap battery life.
Have heard about specsavers being one of the top hearing folks along with boots!
Bluetooth seemed interesting as I love the radio and the Mrs,...meh.
Will see what more comments bring re ITE/around the back
Subtitled cinema showings: https://www.yourlocalcinema.com/Its partly the vain man in me about wearing them out in public etc. Dont go to the cinema often these days as we have a feckin big tv with great sound...and all I hear in a cinema is the asshole sat next to munching away.....Pubs, noisy anyway so just chill out there. Its more of in house/tv watching etc. I wouldnt wear ITE all the time anyway but a bit of a shock reading the crap battery life.
Have heard about specsavers being one of the top hearing folks along with boots!
Bluetooth seemed interesting as I love the radio and the Mrs,...meh.
Will see what more comments bring re ITE/around the back
For Bluetooth, try to get an aid that supports the latest Bluetooth Low Energy Audio (LE Audio, not to be confused with the older Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)) and Auracast. Failing that check MFi (iPhone) and ASHA (Android) compatibility.
Hill92 said:
romft123 said:
Thanks all for the above.
Its partly the vain man in me about wearing them out in public etc. Dont go to the cinema often these days as we have a feckin big tv with great sound...and all I hear in a cinema is the asshole sat next to munching away.....Pubs, noisy anyway so just chill out there. Its more of in house/tv watching etc. I wouldnt wear ITE all the time anyway but a bit of a shock reading the crap battery life.
Have heard about specsavers being one of the top hearing folks along with boots!
Bluetooth seemed interesting as I love the radio and the Mrs,...meh.
Will see what more comments bring re ITE/around the back
Subtitled cinema showings: https://www.yourlocalcinema.com/Its partly the vain man in me about wearing them out in public etc. Dont go to the cinema often these days as we have a feckin big tv with great sound...and all I hear in a cinema is the asshole sat next to munching away.....Pubs, noisy anyway so just chill out there. Its more of in house/tv watching etc. I wouldnt wear ITE all the time anyway but a bit of a shock reading the crap battery life.
Have heard about specsavers being one of the top hearing folks along with boots!
Bluetooth seemed interesting as I love the radio and the Mrs,...meh.
Will see what more comments bring re ITE/around the back
For Bluetooth, try to get an aid that supports the latest Bluetooth Low Energy Audio (LE Audio, not to be confused with the older Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)) and Auracast. Failing that check MFi (iPhone) and ASHA (Android) compatibility.
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