Who knows about hearing aids? Good brands, what to look for, overall process, anything!

[katilac]

dh has hearing loss and could definitely benefit from hearing aids. He's been putting it off, but I think he will finally go this summer. 

 

I want him to get high-quality ones that will actually help and be easy to use. He would probably like them to be low-profile. 

 

Are there certain brands that are well-regarded? Things we should be looking for? Specific questions to ask? 

 

He also has (very bad) tinnitus. Anyone familiar with ReSound brand, or their hearing aids that are meant to help with tinnitus? This is a summary of their tinnitus models: http://cnchearing.com/resound/

 

Both of these issues affect his quality of life, and I want to get the best ones possible. dh is worried that we will drop a ton of money and then they won't work out. How does that work? When I switch to a new type of contact lens, I get a sample pair to try before committing, which is super handy. Anything like that for hearing aids? 

 

Tell me anything you think I should know. Thanks!!

 

Edited to add: he is an outside salesman, he spends tons of time in group conversations and tons of time on the phone. He already uses a headset to talk on the phone.

Edited June 11, 2017 by katilac

[Crimson Wife]

The FDA is in the process of creating a new class of OTC hearing aids for those with mild-to-moderate losses. That should bring the price way down for those types of aids.

 

The new policy won't help those with more significant hearing loss like my daughter. She currently has a Phonak SkyQ aid in her better ear but we're trying to upgrade to a new Phonak hearing aid called the Link that will sync better with the cochlear implant.

 

Mini-behind-the-ear aids offer the best combo of discreet look and good performance. The aids that go completely in the ear canal are prone to annoying feedback (that squealing sound).

 

Some aids are specifically designed to work with iPhones.

 

The audiologist may have "loaner" pairs that your DH can try out for a certain length of time before deciding which to buy. That's something to ask about when calling around different clinics.

[katilac]

  The aids that go completely in the ear canal are prone to annoying feedback (that squealing sound).

 

 

 

I think his head might actually explode if that happened IN his ear, so we'll keep that in mind. 

 

I'm thinking that pairing up with the iPhone, iPad, etc might be very helpful to him. 

[almondbutterandjelly]

I'm not sure if this will help you, but we live in Texas.  My dh has had (free) hearing aids from the VA for years.  He started having a lot of problems hearing in meetings at work.  We heard about a local nonprofit, The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center, and visited them.  They have a guy working there whose main focus is helping people who are having issues at work.  He helped my dh get free hearing aids through the state's Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.  He also was able to get a free remote microphone and a voucher that went a long long way toward the cost of a new iphone (which works best with hearing aids).

 

I don't think it's because he was a veteran that he got the free stuff from DARS.  I think it's because he needed them for work.  HTH

 

By the way, the quality is much better than what the VA gave him.

Edited June 11, 2017 by perkybunch

[katilac]

I'm not sure if this will help you, but we live in Texas.  My dh has had (free) hearing aids from the VA for years.  He started having a lot of problems hearing in meetings at work.  We heard about a local nonprofit, The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Center, and visited them.  They have a guy working there whose main focus is helping people who are having issues at work.  He helped my dh get free hearing aids through the state's Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.  He also was able to get a free remote microphone and a voucher that went a long long way toward the cost of a new iphone (which works best with hearing aids).

 

I don't think it's because he was a veteran that he got the free stuff from DARS.  I think it's because he needed them for work.  HTH

 

By the way, the quality is much better than what the VA gave him.

 

Thanks, I will definitely look into that locally. It's certainly a big problem for his work. I don't know how customers put up with all the yelling he does! I'm like, honey, you are hard of hearing, not the other people, lol. 

[Crimson Wife]

There is also something called CapTel that will provide a special phone with captioning capability free if he qualifies. I'm not super-familiar with the program since my hard-of-hearing child is not yet a fluent reader. But I do know that the clinic where she gets her speech therapy distributes them so at some point we will most likely get her one.

[zimom]

I was an audiologist for many years in my prior life :)  Although to be clear, I haven't worked with hearing aids now in 10 years.  However things to keep in mind:

 

The law states he gets a trial period.  Most places it will be 30 days.  We offered a 100 percent refund during that time if someone did not feel the hearing aids were enough benefit to them.  Generally after the fitting we saw them around two weeks for follow up and adjustments, and sometimes at the thirty day mark.  Usually about every six months after that.  As long as it did not cost us hard money, we did not charge the patient any other fees for the life of the hearing aid, so it was a one time bundled fee.   I know a lot of places refund around 80% or maybe minus $200.  He just needs to know the policy up front, what fees are due after the trial, etc.   In my opinion, he should be fit with HIS hearing aid from the start as for the most part, it is a custom fitting.

 

My preferred type of fitting in the majority of cases is the very small hearing aid behind the ear, barely noticeable, with a tiny tube that goes down into the ear canal.  The color of the hearing aid is generally matched to the color of the persons hair.  One of my kids wears a hearing aid, fit with a new hearing aid just a year ago and was fit with this style, recommended by an audiologist other then myself :)   The Phonak Sky also mentioned by CrimsonWife.   I've always liked Phonaks.  They are a respected company, the products hold up well and the Sky product line, although geared towards kids are water resistant, a great feature.     ReSound is one of the top companies but to me they always promised more then they delivered.  Next to Phonak I like Oticon, and then probably Siemens.  Also, please find an audiologist to work with.  Most have a doctorate degree specializing in hearing, or if they are old like me, a masters.  

 

Someone mentioned the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.  In our state it is called Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.  Again, in our state they generally help those out of work trying to be employed but they will purchase hearing aids in that case.  But might be worth looking into depending on your situation and your state.  In our state you do need to be out of work and need the hearing aids to be gainfully employed.  You are also more likely to receive assistance if you have a criminal background.  

[katilac]

There is also something called CapTel that will provide a special phone with captioning capability free if he qualifies. 

 

The price is actually pretty reasonable to begin with even if he doesn't qualify. He uses a cell phone for work, he has to, so I did a bit of searching and it looks like there is now a free service Captel service he could use for this, very cool! Hamilton Web Captel is what I found at first glance, if anyone else is interested. There are specific requirements for the cell phone. 

 

I was an audiologist for many years in my prior life :)  Although to be clear, I haven't worked with hearing aids now in 10 years.  However things to keep in mind:

 

The law states he gets a trial period.  Most places it will be 30 days.  We offered a 100 percent refund during that time if someone did not feel the hearing aids were enough benefit to them.  Generally after the fitting we saw them around two weeks for follow up and adjustments, and sometimes at the thirty day mark.  Usually about every six months after that.  As long as it did not cost us hard money, we did not charge the patient any other fees for the life of the hearing aid, so it was a one time bundled fee.   I know a lot of places refund around 80% or maybe minus $200.  He just needs to know the policy up front, what fees are due after the trial, etc.   In my opinion, he should be fit with HIS hearing aid from the start as for the most part, it is a custom fitting.

 

My preferred type of fitting in the majority of cases is the very small hearing aid behind the ear, barely noticeable, with a tiny tube that goes down into the ear canal.  The color of the hearing aid is generally matched to the color of the persons hair.  One of my kids wears a hearing aid, fit with a new hearing aid just a year ago and was fit with this style, recommended by an audiologist other then myself :)   The Phonak Sky also mentioned by CrimsonWife.   I've always liked Phonaks.  They are a respected company, the products hold up well and the Sky product line, although geared towards kids are water resistant, a great feature.     ReSound is one of the top companies but to me they always promised more then they delivered.  Next to Phonak I like Oticon, and then probably Siemens.  Also, please find an audiologist to work with.  Most have a doctorate degree specializing in hearing, or if they are old like me, a masters.  

 

Someone mentioned the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services.  In our state it is called Department of Vocational Rehabilitation.  Again, in our state they generally help those out of work trying to be employed but they will purchase hearing aids in that case.  But might be worth looking into depending on your situation and your state.  In our state you do need to be out of work and need the hearing aids to be gainfully employed.  You are also more likely to receive assistance if you have a criminal background.  

 

That is great to know about the trial period, that will make him much more comfortable with the idea. I don't mind losing some money finding just the right device, but we definitely can't afford to outright buy a second one if the first one doesn't work out! 

 

Lots of great information, thank you. We will definitely work with an audiologist. 

 

I will tell dh to start establishing a criminal background  :laugh:

[Crimson Wife]

 

That is great to know about the trial period, that will make him much more comfortable with the idea. I don't mind losing some money finding just the right device, but we definitely can't afford to outright buy a second one if the first one doesn't work out!

 

There is a secondary market for hearing aids if he gets something and decides past the 30 day trial that it just isn't working for him. If my daughter's upgrade to the cochlear implant-syncing aid gets approved, we will be selling at least 1 if not both of her SkyQ's. It depends on the cost of insurance on the new aid vs. how much we can get for each of the used SkyQ's.

 

Right now we don't have insurance because she got the cochlear implant before the 1 year warranty on the hearing aids was up. At that point, it made more sense just to keep the 2nd aid as backup (it can be reprogrammed) rather than pay for insurance. But with the new aid being superior technology we might sell both of the old ones & buy the insurance.

[nixpix5]

We have used Safari (which were great) and now our daughter has Phonak Sky Q which are awesome. We did a trial with them before our switch. Many places, as previously stated, will allow you to try them out. She loves them because they sync to her GM system well, she can use her television device which pipes the sound into her aids which is great. She seems to have better range with these ones as well. She has an ear mold with a behind the ear aid. As said already, others can give alot of feedback. These don't. As far as tinnitus you can get aids that have pink noise for times when it is quiet and the tinnitus is really bad. This will help control it.

[zimom]

About tinnitus, hearing aids in general will help because just the fact they are amplifying sound, patients report they decreased tinnitus in the huge majority of cases.  So tell him any hearing aid will hopefully have a beneficial effect, he doesn't need a 'special' model for this unless he finds it doesn't work with the first trial.   Also if he doesn't do well with his first trial, he should have the option to trial another hearing aid, we certainly gave patients that option as long as we felt, based on feedback (not noise feedback, but patient feedback) that a different model was likely to make a better outcome.  Of course, there were times it was obviously that some individuals were just not ready for a hearing aid at that time.  A person has to be ready.  I always told them up front that if they were there because their spouse was making them, they were likely not going to be successful.  My job was 50% audiology and 50% marriage counseling :)   I much preferred working with kids!

 

 

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Edited June 12, 2017 by zimom

[Paige]

My DS uses Oticon aids and we like them. They are tiny and we can get them to work with bluetooth so he can talk on the phone without feedback. 

[zimom]

Insurance:  Most health insurance does not cover hearing aids but even I was pleasantly surprised when our health insurance covered our DD hearing aid last year.  

 

I would say less then 1% of private health insurance covered hearing aids when I worked, generally ones through unions.  State Medicaid covered hearing aids for children 0-18 every three years, what I would consider fairly low quality, however we had a county Children's Medical Services that would help cover the difference in price for the kids for better technology for the ones that took good care of their hearing aids and obtained good benefit.  Medicare (over 65) did not cover hearing aids.