Question for seniors that are hard of hearing and have explored aids

Rob Keeble

Member
Messages
12,633
Location
GTA Ontario Canada
I am hoping some of our senior members here might be able to shed some light on the merits of this device

http://www.mdhearingaid.com/acoustitone_pro

I know this aint a substitute for getting ones ears tested by a professional etc but this is as a step towards that direction.

I am dealing with my Dad here who is 96. He has been to the ear docs and had his ears checked twice paid a small fortune once to have wax removed then next to have a growth removed. Now nothing i can do will get him to go back and he does not feel spending the coin on getting a hearing aid is worth it at his age.
I have tried every trick in the book to coerce encourage motivate him to do it right and nothing will budge the stubborn old mule in him. Not even an appeal from grandson.

So i managed to find this device which looks to me like a compromise and i have managed to coax a promise from him to wear it. I am hoping if he hears the benefit he may be prepared to go the next stage.

So before i pull the trigger i thought i would check our forum and see if anyone has tried this device and had any luck good or bad with it.

Its not big bucks to get the ball rolling they will also let me pay from Canada and ship directly to him in SA so all i need to do to make it happen is hit the keyboard.

Thanks for any replies and input.
 
rob i have got the high dollar version of a aid and had one similar to this one years ago for hunting purposes,, the old one i had did improve the ability to hear ut it amplified all noise not just the tones i lost. so wind was louder and the leaves rustling was too but i still could separate the sounds better than without one ..you will want the extension tube on this.. the closer you can project the sound to the ear drum the better your results are.. also ear cleaning is a must, and if the tubes get plugged it stops the device from working well.. to me if you can get any results from this for your dad its a plus.. is the grandson still there to make sure he uses it? or someone that takes care of him to make sure its working and he uses it?
 
Haven't tried that device. Speaking for myself and my experience I can say there are some 'devices' which amplify but really are not much of being hearing 'aids'. My first pair was considered one of the best at the time. I hated them. Amplified but understanding speech was almost impossible and they picked up all the background noise and amplified it terribly. My second pair I got about one year ago is completely different. They do not pick up as much background noise and do help with speech clarification. I like them. I get courtest of the VA. Retail they would be about $5,000.00. Understand, with age, not only is volume lost but clarity of sound, particularly speech, is lost. Words sound garbled. No amount of amplification can help that. Most men over about 70 years of age have significant speech recognition loss in their left ear. That is because they often drove cars with the window open and their hearing was damaged. This is particularly true with smokers because they more often drive with the window open. Another reason to not smoke. As for your father, those might be worth a try but I'm skeeptikal. Understand, wearing hearing aids requires a learning period to get used to and he may not have the patience or motivation to go through that. Also, when wearing aids the wearer hears his own voice at lower volumes and has difficulty adjusting his speaking volumne so others can hear. When I am wearing mine other people are constantly saying "what?". Personally, IMHO, you are wasting time, money and your own patience to get him to try wearing those.
 
LOML is hearing impaired (may explain our long relationship) so I speak from secondary experience. Larry and Frank hit the nail on the head. If this is for eaves dropping by a normally hearing person, it would probably work to some degree. It would not be of much use to someone requiring a corrected curve of hearing loss.

Having said that I think hearing aids are one of the true remaining medical ripoffs. I paid $2800 for LOML's latest pair and they are much less sophisticated and robust than many devices I have costing many, many times less. Rant-off ;-)
 
I got my hearing aids (from the VA) about three months ago. They are Pronak (brand) Audio S programmables, and the doctor custom programmed them for my specific needs.

It took several days of perseverance for me to adapt to them, but now I wouldn't be without them. They're programmed to work as a pair, and are pretty much unnoticeable behind the ear, with a clear tube that runs down the front and into the ear canal. You'd have to look very closely to even tell I'm wearing them. VA doctor said the retail cost was over $6k for the pair, but I've seen them advertised online for about $1,700 each.

I now wear them about 14 hours per day, and don't want to ever be without them.

The ones you asked about seem to be pretty much simple amplifiers, and would likely drive your dad nuts with all the unwanted sounds and squeals. Also, the physical (mild) discomfort in getting used to them might present problems for a guy his age. I really don't think I'd waste the money on them.
 
None of them work when you don't have a problem with volume but do have a problem with clarity of the sound. For people like that, all that happens is you make the "mush" louder.
DAMHIKT. For those new to FWW that means Don't Ask Me How I Know That.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
I can't give any info on the devices... at 71 I don't have or use any hearing devices, but I'm sure it's coming someday.... I have tinnitus in both ears from my years as a ramp rat for an airlines... my ears have had a high pitch ringing for the past 30 or 35 years....and according to the last ENT doctor I've lost about 20% hearing at the high and low spectrum's... and in a large crowd, it's getting more and more difficult to distinguish individual voices... in a one on one, I don't have much problem.
 
My sincere thanks to you all. I really appreciate the input. My logical brain says exactly what most of you have said, i dont know that my dad is going to be patient enough to even give it a try. He is pretty frustrated with life as it is right now. His brain memory etc all excellent and if you take age into account actually quiet amazing, But the body as he says it is totally a wreck. The aggravation the physical aspect to life causes makes him totally frustrated. Add to that the hearing and oh boy he gets super frustrated.
My heart is hoping he would see the merit in getting a proper hearing aid but he just does not feel its worth the money especially since he lost his faith in two different ear docs. I said to him whats the worry about money for you cant take it with you but it can make life a little more pleasant but hey this is something we can all say but when you have been careful with money all your life at no time do you suddenly open the vault and go for it. You get to be trapped in your own time frame and life by your own self. Aint nothing great about real old age.
I guess some of these device manufacturers also essentially prey on the elderly. They mess with those that have not got the dollar and at the same time they gouge those that have it too. This device in essence sells hope, but its probably poor on delivery.
I will sleep on it. I sure as heck can afford to take a shot at it. Would get him to a proper doc if he were prepared to go but he aint.

Thanks guys i really appreciate the input. Its good to hear from guys that actually have the real deal.
 
I got a short lesson in hearing loss the other day from one of our researchers. As she explained it the hair follicles in the ears get brittle with age. There are some types of fish (of all things) that have impeccable hearing through-out their lifespan. Turns out these fish have hair follicles that reproduce, which in humans they don't do, but makes sense that the "tuning" that Jim and Frank mentioned would be necessary.
 
Top