I started posting about hearing aids in the totally random thread but I thought that it might have a wider audience. Many of us have hearing problems and since the solutions are often crazy expensive some research is required. I did a deep dive into HAs (hearing aids) some months back so I thought I should share some of what I learned.
The first thing you need is a hearing test. Forget the online tests – they will just give you a very fuzzy idea of your problem. Only a test by a professional in a controlled environment is worthwhile. For this you must visit an ENT or a hearing aid store. The test will produce an audiogram - a graph displaying the bad news about your own hearing. They put you in a soundproof booth with headphones and play test tones for frequency response and they run through some word recognition tests. The end result will look like this:
I went to Costco - who will test you for free at one of their Hearing Centers. Any decent hearing aid store can do the same but they might not let you walk away with a copy of it for free because you can use it to shop around.
Here is what it means:
This is a simple graph of my hearing ability at different frequencies. The loudness level is measured in dB and for reference, 1 dB is the lowest level where the human ear can just hear a difference. As you can see, my hearing is normal until 1K (1000 Hertz) and then it dives abruptly down into the severe-profound loss area. The severity of your loss determines what type of HA is suitable. If your loss is mild-moderate you may get away with an OTC (over the counter) hearing aid, but only if you live in the US because most countries’ medical boards have not approved them for use – yet. The US allowed sales of OTC HAs starting in 2022 but they have had a huge return ratio at over 30% so something ain’t right.
Another option for the mild-moderate crowd is the new Apple AirPods Pro 2 which can work for the same type of loss, but you must have a recent Apple phone for them to work and you have to like the feel of earbuds constantly in your ear.
However, if your loss is severe or profound, you will need a real HA which requires a personalized setup – which is called ‘fitting’ where your audi (audiologist) dives into the software to tune your HA to your individual loss. Expensive? You bet!
More to follow . . .
The first thing you need is a hearing test. Forget the online tests – they will just give you a very fuzzy idea of your problem. Only a test by a professional in a controlled environment is worthwhile. For this you must visit an ENT or a hearing aid store. The test will produce an audiogram - a graph displaying the bad news about your own hearing. They put you in a soundproof booth with headphones and play test tones for frequency response and they run through some word recognition tests. The end result will look like this:
I went to Costco - who will test you for free at one of their Hearing Centers. Any decent hearing aid store can do the same but they might not let you walk away with a copy of it for free because you can use it to shop around.
Here is what it means:
This is a simple graph of my hearing ability at different frequencies. The loudness level is measured in dB and for reference, 1 dB is the lowest level where the human ear can just hear a difference. As you can see, my hearing is normal until 1K (1000 Hertz) and then it dives abruptly down into the severe-profound loss area. The severity of your loss determines what type of HA is suitable. If your loss is mild-moderate you may get away with an OTC (over the counter) hearing aid, but only if you live in the US because most countries’ medical boards have not approved them for use – yet. The US allowed sales of OTC HAs starting in 2022 but they have had a huge return ratio at over 30% so something ain’t right.
Another option for the mild-moderate crowd is the new Apple AirPods Pro 2 which can work for the same type of loss, but you must have a recent Apple phone for them to work and you have to like the feel of earbuds constantly in your ear.
However, if your loss is severe or profound, you will need a real HA which requires a personalized setup – which is called ‘fitting’ where your audi (audiologist) dives into the software to tune your HA to your individual loss. Expensive? You bet!
More to follow . . .