Hearing aids and recommended places.

emerald21

Hi, As the title says really. I feel i need to wear a hearing aid now and have been putting it off for quite a while. I d like one of the hearing aids that are practically invisible ie the ones that fit in your ear. Can anyone whose had experiences of hearing aids and where they ve gone please advise me as there is so much out there and differing prices. Thank you:)

brook2jack

My understanding is that these have their limitations in terms of hearing correction etc.

Why not try the nhs route with hearings aids? Our experience is that it has been quick, efficient and the hearing aids my 18 year old daughter has have "open fit" fittings so are virtually invisible in the ear and the aids themselves are hardly noticeable behind her ears and very modern ,tiny and silver coloured.

If you go private you also have to factor in cost of batteries (go through alot in a month free with nhs) and replacement of aids every couple of years.


There is a great long thread on hearing impairment on the disability and dosh board and Hear Hear was of great help to us.

I can understand not wanting to have hearing aids show , my 18 year old daughter was understandably devastated at diagnosis a few months ago especially as she is due to start a music degree at Oxford, but actually being loud and proud about her aids has been really useful ( most people never know until she tells them) as if she doesnt catch all of a conversation people don't think she's being stand off ish but understand about her hearing loss.

Having aids has revolutionised her life and made socialising so much easier. Try nhs and you can always go private afterwards if not happy and it won't have cost you anything.

emerald21

brook2jack wrote: »

My understanding is that these have their limitations in terms of hearing correction etc.

Why not try the nhs route with hearings aids? Our experience is that it has been quick, efficient and the hearing aids my 18 year old daughter has have "open fit" fittings so are virtually invisible in the ear and the aids themselves are hardly noticeable behind her ears and very modern ,tiny and silver coloured.

If you go private you also have to factor in cost of batteries (go through alot in a month free with nhs) and replacement of aids every couple of years.


There is a great long thread on hearing impairment on the disability and dosh board and Hear Hear was of great help to us.

I can understand not wanting to have hearing aids show , my 18 year old daughter was understandably devastated at diagnosis a few months ago especially as she is due to start a music degree at Oxford, but actually being loud and proud about her aids has been really useful ( most people never know until she tells them) as if she doesnt catch all of a conversation people don't think she's being stand off ish but understand about her hearing loss.

Having aids has revolutionised her life and made socialising so much easier. Try nhs and you can always go private afterwards if not happy and it won't have cost you anything.

Hi Thanks for replying. I did go down the nhs route about 4 years ago and was told i could benefit from having 2 hearing aids:eek:. These certainly could be seen and it didn t suit my image lol so i decided on just the one. However it amplified my hearing too much eg someone knocking the door sounded like they were knocking it down and a running tap sounded like a waterfall. I guess they mush have smaller ones now. I ll try the nhs route again if i can remember what i did.:)

brook2jack

You should post on hearing impairment thread on disability and dosh to hear hear. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1223803

My understanding is if you need two hearing aids and only use one the hearing in the unaided ear deteriorates much faster due to auditory nerve atrophy so it is important to get aids for both ears if both are needed.

When you first wear hearing aids there is auditory shock... you can hear clothes and hair rustling etc and it is very wearing and tiring at first. A rough rule of thumb is it takes a month for each year of hearing loss to get used to the aids. There is a whole world of sound that you are missing out on now that you will have to get used to again. Also with the modern digital hearing aids you will probably need a few visits to get them fine tuned to your needs and comfort.

Go see your gp for a referral to your local audiology department it normally only takes a few weeks.

Once your are diagnosed many areas now are in partnership with places such as specsavers which do the dispensing of the nhs hearing aids and new cordas (ear pieces ) and batteries. It is a scheme which will be in the whole of the UK in the next few years.

New NHS hearing aids are introduced every three years or so and will have changed since you were last in.

Finally if an 18 year old pretty girl can cope with two hearing aids as part of her image (and there is a choice of colours on many aids) then thats a pretty difficult demographic to satisfy!

emerald21

brook2jack wrote: »

You should post on hearing impairment thread on disability and dosh to hear hear. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1223803

My understanding is if you need two hearing aids and only use one the hearing in the unaided ear deteriorates much faster due to auditory nerve atrophy so it is important to get aids for both ears if both are needed.

When you first wear hearing aids there is auditory shock... you can hear clothes and hair rustling etc and it is very wearing and tiring at first. A rough rule of thumb is it takes a month for each year of hearing loss to get used to the aids. There is a whole world of sound that you are missing out on now that you will have to get used to again. Also with the modern digital hearing aids you will probably need a few visits to get them fine tuned to your needs and comfort.

Go see your gp for a referral to your local audiology department it normally only takes a few weeks.

Once your are diagnosed many areas now are in partnership with places such as specsavers which do the dispensing of the nhs hearing aids and new cordas (ear pieces ) and batteries. It is a scheme which will be in the whole of the UK in the next few years.

New NHS hearing aids are introduced every three years or so and will have changed since you were last in.

Finally if an 18 year old pretty girl can cope with two hearing aids as part of her image (and there is a choice of colours on many aids) then thats a pretty difficult demographic to satisfy!

Yes absolutely. Thank you

MrPearlyWhite

from my experience in this I bought NHS hearing aid for my grannie.. working great no complains.. everything is just wonderful. Of course, it was prescribed by her physician.

Hear-Hear

A good place to start would be on the BSHAA website, which is the professional body in the UK for audiologists in the private sector. It's at https://www.bshaa.com and has a useful find a dispenser facility. It will show all the Independent audiologists, plus all the Branches of the biggest suppliers - Specsavers and Boots - in your local area.

To do some research on prices, you will find that both Specsavers and The Hearing Company have their full range of all their prices on their websites.

marrowgirl

I would try the NHS first like Brook says. If you find the aids they offer aren't for you they should be able to advise on good private dispensers in your area. Personally I never got on with Hidden Hearing or Specsavers as I found them pushy but you can get good and bad in every company.

mum26

Hi, I have two NHS digital hearing aids. These are ones with an ear mould (which is clear and not that noticable at all) and a behind the ear piece, these are much smaller and better looking than the old fashioned beige ones

I have had hearing loss from birth / very shortly after, was given one hearing aid at age 7 (even though I am equally deaf in both ears - around 45% loss although I know audiologists don't like to use those sort of terms lol) which didn't really help as it was disorientating just having the one so I barely used it. Went back again ten years ago and it was the same story so pointless, back again this year as sick of struggling along and now they give two hearing aids and they are so so much better.

Yes they will feel very strange for a while, I've had these ones for 2 months now and they have just started to feel natural and I forget I have them in. They were quite painful for a while too even though they fit perfectly.
It is overwhelming for the first few days because everything really does sound so loud and your brain is getting clobbered with not only what you normally hear but louder and also all those things you don't actually hear at the moment (I never knew my neighbour had wind chimes! Or my car brake pedal squeaks a bit etc also my washing machine sings a tune when it finishes a cycle and this now sounds really different as I just couldn't hear certain notes!) but persevere and it really is worth it.

I also think you are that much more alert visually sometimes when you have hearing problems that you have a lot of visual noise to deal with too and on top of the new hearing it can be very tiring, but that soon passes. I went for my first job interview since getting them the other day and I was so much more relaxed because I wasn't desperately trying to keep up!

Go for it and get referred now as sometimes they are v busy and it could take a while. I'd have liked coloured hearing aids but I wasn't given the choice (I think the audiologist who fitted mine deals more with the elderly - i'm 35 with purple hair , I had to go back to get him to add the loop programme on, apparently there are a number of programmes they can put on for you but I don't know what they are as he was quite resistant to actually doing anything...) and when I did enquire on a follow up trip I was shown the ones they do and they weren't that inspiring sadly, good for kids certainly but nowhere near what is available for glasses etc. Audiologist also made a song and dance about coloured ones meaning you can be without them for a while if they need repairing etc etc but that might have just been waffle.

emerald21

mum26 wrote: »

Hi, I have two NHS digital hearing aids. These are ones with an ear mould (which is clear and not that noticable at all) and a behind the ear piece, these are much smaller and better looking than the old fashioned beige ones

I have had hearing loss from birth / very shortly after, was given one hearing aid at age 7 (even though I am equally deaf in both ears - around 45% loss although I know audiologists don't like to use those sort of terms lol) which didn't really help as it was disorientating just having the one so I barely used it. Went back again ten years ago and it was the same story so pointless, back again this year as sick of struggling along and now they give two hearing aids and they are so so much better.

Yes they will feel very strange for a while, I've had these ones for 2 months now and they have just started to feel natural and I forget I have them in. They were quite painful for a while too even though they fit perfectly.
It is overwhelming for the first few days because everything really does sound so loud and your brain is getting clobbered with not only what you normally hear but louder and also all those things you don't actually hear at the moment (I never knew my neighbour had wind chimes! Or my car brake pedal squeaks a bit etc also my washing machine sings a tune when it finishes a cycle and this now sounds really different as I just couldn't hear certain notes!) but persevere and it really is worth it.

I also think you are that much more alert visually sometimes when you have hearing problems that you have a lot of visual noise to deal with too and on top of the new hearing it can be very tiring, but that soon passes. I went for my first job interview since getting them the other day and I was so much more relaxed because I wasn't desperately trying to keep up!

Go for it and get referred now as sometimes they are v busy and it could take a while. I'd have liked coloured hearing aids but I wasn't given the choice (I think the audiologist who fitted mine deals more with the elderly - i'm 35 with purple hair , I had to go back to get him to add the loop programme on, apparently there are a number of programmes they can put on for you but I don't know what they are as he was quite resistant to actually doing anything...) and when I did enquire on a follow up trip I was shown the ones they do and they weren't that inspiring sadly, good for kids certainly but nowhere near what is available for glasses etc. Audiologist also made a song and dance about coloured ones meaning you can be without them for a while if they need repairing etc etc but that might have just been waffle.

Thank you i ll make an appointment with my doctor for another referal