Hearing Aid Advice

[braumeister]

Any idea what the expected battery life is?
I remember that my father's aids seemed to go through batteries like they were M&Ms.

[heardoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister Any idea what the expected battery life is? I remember that my father's aids seemed to go through batteries like they were M&Ms.

Depends entirely on use,power and to some degree battery size and quality.
It's sort of like asking "how many miles per gallon will my car get?"

[TromboneAl]

I think this is one that can use rechargeable batteries. That is, you can recharge them at night (or use regular batteries).

You do wonder about the quality of the audiologist at Costco, as HearDoc mentioned. OTOH, the computer does most of the hearing tests, you buy a good product, and the computer calibrates it, so it would be hard for him to screw up too much. A savings of $3,000 is significant.

[donheff]

I will be interested in how Lena likes them after she has them a few months. They sound more advanced than my $4000 behind the ear models. I will definitely look at Costco when I get new ones although that should be many years from now. As for the batteries mine last about a week - I buy em by the pack. From the little I have read about them IIRC rechargeables last about 1/10 the time of regular so they are not as convenient. She could buy a dispenser of regular batteries just to have some around in case she finds herself "uncharged." They keep a long time if you don't pull the tag off them.

[ERD50]

I'm surprised the batteries would not be rechargeable through a little docking device, or even wireless-ly (like some toothbrushes are).

It sounds like you actually need to pull the rechargeable batteries out and replace them? That would be a pain if you need to do it every few days versus a week. But that seems odd for a $2,800 device.

-ERD50

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I'm surprised the batteries would not be rechargeable through a little docking device, or even wireless-ly (like some toothbrushes are). It sounds like you actually need to pull the rechargeable batteries out and replace them? That would be a pain if you need to do it every few days versus a week. But that seems odd for a $2,800 device. -ERD50

Great idea ERD. I bet by the time I get around to buying my next set, the $2800 Costco version will offer some sort of wireless recharge. They definitely were not available when I got mine (probably a matter of weight and space limits) but wonders never cease in the tech area.

[TromboneAl]

She's had the new hearing aids for a few weeks now, and it is a significant improvement. I need to repeat myself much less often, and that makes a big difference.

It's hard to quantify, but I'd say that with her old hearing aids, if my hearing were 100, her's was 50. Now, I'd say that her's is about 80.

She can adjust the volume, and that's useful.

There are things that are now too loud for her. She has to leave the room when I run the blender.

If we're driving at 60 MPH with the windows closed, and run the fan in the outside air position, there's some kind of resonance in her hearing aids that we both hear.

But those problems are minor.

Highly recommended.

[REWahoo]

Al, know figuring out what to buy and who to buy from was a big ordeal. Glad to hear there was a nice improvement.

[Brat]

Blenders are very noisy but the pitch may be real issue. Usually the audiologist adjusts a new aid a couple times as the wearer adapts to it, bring the blender along on her next visit to see if s/he can mitigate this. It is amazing what they can do today.

[omni550]

A tip for anyone with behind-the-ear hearing aids.

A friend of mine wears this style. She lost one of the aids while on a long autumn walk. After she noticed that it was missing, she tried retracing her steps, but to no avail. The ~ $2500 aid was gone for good, probably lying under some leaves.

To try to mitigate this situation from reoccurring, after she got the replacement aid, she went to a guy who sells jewelry chain "by the inch". She had him measure the space between her ears (along her hairline in the back). He then cut a piece of thin gold chain (allowing for a little slack) and added a spring clasp on each end.

She put the spring clasp over the "thread" portion (the part that runs into the ear) of each hearing aid, thereby creating a tether holding the hearing aids together. This way if one hearing aid manages to works itself out of her ear, chances are that it will dangle from the chain until she notices.

Her hair is blonde, so the gold chain blends in. For someone with gray hair, a thin silver chain might blend in better.

On the off chance that you happen to notice the chain, it just looks like jewelry.


omni

[Rustward]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omni550 ...She had him measure the space between her ears ...

It's obvious you weren't trying to be funny but I got a chuckle out of this.

Clever solution.

[TromboneAl]

Good idea -- maybe dental floss would work.

DW's hearing aids can respond wirelessly to the hearing tech's machine, and they make a noise when they're being adjusted. It would be easy to have something that you could use to make a lost aid chirp.

Lena goes away when I run the blender. I asked her whether she could just put her hands over her ears, and she said no, but I just realized that she'd have to put her hands over the receivers (behind the ear) rather than over her ears.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl Good idea -- maybe dental floss would work.

or light weight fishing line.

[omni550]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donheff or light weight fishing line.

Monofilament line has a tendency to stick out and scratch/itch your skin.

(Several years ago, some clothing manufacturers tried using thin monofilament line as a 'universal' color to stitch hemlines and labels at necklines. This resulted in annoying and unbearable scratching until the offending material was cut out. LOL)

If you really want to 'go cheap' on a tether, just use sewing thread!

omni