So my question is about these audiologists in general. I have an appointment on Thursday. I have no doubt I can use a hearing aid. My worry is these folks have a vested interest in selling me one. I want to make sure other avenues are exhausted first before I go down that road.
The other issue I have is the GF saw this audiologist yesterday and he told her she had hearing loss at high frequency levels and recommended an expensive hearing aid for her. So expensive she wouldn’t even tell me the cost.
Thing is, she exhibits no evidence of hearing loss at all. She watches TV with the volume low. She never asks someone to repeat themselves. She engages in conversation at a lively pace. She can have long, animated phone calls. I can’t believe she needs a hearing aid. When I read those little lists of traits that indicate someone might need a hearing aid, none of them apply to her. She has three older siblings, none of whom have hearing aids. Her deceased parents never had hearing aids.
Does she have some hearing loss? I wouldn’t be surprised. She’s 59. How many people that age don’t have a bit of hearing loss? But does she need a hearing aid? I am very dubious.
Just wondering what experience anyone has had with this type of thing.
I think the hearing aid industry needs to go OTC. Try some of the devices out there before letting them send you through the traditional and very expensive process. Audiologists aren’t scammers; they just don’t know anything different (yet.)
Anyway, check out the Airpods Pro-- they can act as low-end hearing aids, and nobody would ever know you’re hard of hearing. They might think you’re antisocial leaving your headphones in all the time, but that may be seen as a benefit.
I have had hearing loss in one ear since birth, the ear drum sticks a little bit. I don’t notice it most of the time, it’s just part of being me. Then I saw an audiologist last month for something else. She said I could really use a hearing aid and set one up for me to try. It was like a whole new world. It was very odd suddenly having very good hearing.
Except my insurance won’t pay for it and they are $2,500 each. I buy a lot of junk, but I can’t rationalize it since I am so used to it. I have made it this long without one, why do I need one now?
She did come across as a salesman though which I found kind of annoying. There weren’t options, it was just this one fancy one she was showing me. She was a little too pushy about it. Not bad, but it occurred to me she must get a commission on it.
This is your hearing, man. Try to find one your insurance will cover, possible with a different doctor. Or at least check out the airpods pro thing I linked above, that’s $200.
Guy I work with had a bunch of teeth fall out, he could scare small children. He refuses to get implants because they’re $3k apiece. Sure they’re expensive, but he has the money, and it’s his mouth. That’s what money’s for.
My wife has hearing aids and insurance doesn’t cover them. And, as others have noted, they are really freakin’ expensive. So much so that the audiologist has helped her game the system, trying to get a replacement in under the warranty’s expiration to cover things like battery loss.
Surely part of the diagnosis of hearing loss and needing an aid would have to be “are you having troublesome symptoms of hearing loss?”
If she’s not, then no, she doesn’t need to splash out for expensive hearing aids. It’s not like hearing aids are preventative…you get hearing aids when you have trouble hearing things.
In have been unable to hear high frequencies since I was a kid. All that has meant to me is that I never shelled out big bucks for a fancy hi-fi stereo system.
And isn’t this natural? Was literally part of a crowd of thousands experiment over the weekend that blasted out frequencies while asking who heard what and there’s a drop off at around 12,000Hz in adults. I’m 39 and I struggle at 11,000Hz. This was the case at the festival, and with the video below.
Exactly. I get that gradual deterioration can sneak up on you but if she’s perfectly fine in 99% of cases it sounds like an unnecessary sale!
Hearing loss at high freqs is totally normal and progressive as you age. This is behind the stereotypical oldies’ comprehension problems, since the higher frequencies carry the consonants, and you lose the ability to distinguish between ‘s’, ‘k’, ‘p’, ‘t’, ‘v’, etc.
Everyone has some level of loss, but like many medical issues: no reason to treat unless there is a symptom impacting quality of life. If she and the people near her don’t note it as a problem, then nope.
I believe this. The issue will be getting her to believe it since the expert told her she needed one. Maybe there’s an argument that whatever minor hearing loss she has will worsen without a hearing aid, but I’m not an expert here. I did tell her we were both going to get a second opinion. I see that Costco has a hearing department and they give free hearing exams that last about an hour, so they are thorough exams. Their staff are also non-commissioned, which I like. And it’s Costco. They are a good company.
And like I said, I am sure I could use something. I do have to ask people to repeat themselves at times and sometimes someone says something to me and there’s a word I simply can’t distinguish even when they repeat it, so something’s wrong. I hope it’s only hearing and not neurological!
For the record, I love my Pro AirPods so much I bought a second pair to keep at the office as I was tired of leaving them there or forgetting them at home. They are a damned god-send and I use them several times a day to listen to podcasts, music, watch streaming content on my phone or PC (they synch with blutooth on a Windows PC just as well as the iPhone), and of course when I’m on the phone with someone. I will never go back to not having access to these.
Yeah, I had to pay extra for vision. I don’t think I had an option for hearing coverage, probably because hearing aids can run thousands of dollars and how can the insurance company deny coverage if you have some hearing loss?
I really like my airpods pro too. Hate that name, though.
I resisted buying them for a long time, stick with the beats X, as I vastly prefer the necklace strap thing. Then I cheaped out and picked up Sony MX3 earbuds on a sale for like $45, which was an amazing deal-- but they cut out when I walked with my phone in my pocket. So I finally got the airpods pro and am pretty happy with them, with replacement memory foam earhole thingies.
I believe some of the hearing aids can pair with a phone so you can take calls on them. There’s even one cheap pair I saw on Amazon that looks like Airpods.
If I decide to something I’d be inclined to try something cheap first that amplifies sound, but I read all this stuff from audiologists about how they need to be specialized to match each person’s hearing needs. I wish I knew how true that was.
