Hearing aids suck!
There’s an article in WIRED magazine by Erin Biba called “Why Things Suck: Hearing Aids”.
The article starts by, quite rightly, stating that hearing aids are too expensive - I couldn’t agree more. It then goes on to talk about directional microphones, inadequate feedback and noise reduction and, finally, the the fact that insurance rarely covers hearing aids.
Do you agree that feedback and noise reduction systems aren’t good enough?I don’t have a problem with feedback and I am wearing my Starkey Destinys at almost full volume all the time - the feedback reduction works for me. I don’t use the noise reduction so I’m not sure how good that is.
I think the Wired article is overly negative but that’s probably because I’ve have mostly good experiences with my hearing aids over the years and have come to ignore the little problems like occasional excessive background noise and so on. Do you think hearing aid tech is good enough as it is or is there a lot of room for improvement?
Why hearing aid suck?
I don’t think that hearing aids suck - quite the opposite!
WOW, Talk about your chronic bad attitude!!! Erin Biba has limited experience with hearing aids. I have been wearing them for over forty years, ever since I was a young boy and would hate to be with out them. It can be a very lonely world when you cannot hear. Even the loss of ambient sounds is tragic, to loose the sound of children playing, birds singing, the sound of a breeze rustling the leaves of the trees, the sound of a friends laughter, never to hear a favorite song again . You are alone. I have been there and I know. I am there every time I take my hearing aids out. A level of solitude, seclusion, and isolation that most people have no concept of. Those of us that are deaf or hard of hearing are humbled by those that are blind or deaf and blind, we can only imagine the world in which they live.
To complain about the advance of technology or lack there of is unfounded. I remember my first hearing aid that had the receiver that had to go in my shirt pocket. The wires that connected my hearing to that same pocket. I still shop for shirts that have pockets, old habits die hard. The old carbon batteries that only lasted a few days, not weeks. Sound quality was not the issue, being able to hear at all was. The ridicule and teasing of all the other kids was tolerable to be able to sit down with my family and be able to hear the television or listen to the radio.
The modern hearing aids are a miracle of ingenuity and science that should be rejoiced and cherished, not criticized. The sound quality is constantly improving, zinc-air batteries are a wonder. Sizes is a modern day miracle and the old pocket units are a thing of the past. Last but not least, I can hear the children playing, the birds singing, leaves rustling in the trees, a favorite song and probably best of all a friends joyous laughter.
Hearing aids don’t suck. Like everything else in life they are less then perfect, and like every other less then perfect thing in our lives we can only strive to improve upon it. It beats complaining.
Well said Blair. Hearing aids do change people’s lives. Would people prefer technology to stand still?
The reason hearing aids are so expensive in the UK is beacuse retailers have to spend a fortune marketing them and in reality only fit about 4 hearing aids per week. This is because the NHS fit the vast majority. If there were some sort of voucher system like there is in some other countries then
1) Marketing costs for retailers would be reduced
2) People would have a true choice
3) Aids would be cheaper
4) Aftercare and fine tuning of aids would be available to more people.
Hey Luke,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving some comments. What kind of voucher scheme are you talking about? Government discount vouchers?
I actually do agree that lately hearing aids do suck badly for me. I have sensorneural type of loss and I lost only 15-20% from hearing ability, I have been living with it for over 25 yrs…the problem with new hearing aids… became automated, too much noise reduction to the point that I can’t even hear little important noises.. like noise of car… I want to hear it coming so i can get out of the way or protect the child! I also listen & dance to music……….especially bellydancing music. Sheesh! hearing aids consider it noise & totally mute it quiet!!! I found myself dancing to the memory of how the song went for bellydancing!!! WTF??? I never had that problem til lately when now MOST factories that make hearing aids think we ALL need noise reduction BLAH BLAH BS. I need noise to bounce off to hear better. I cannot live in total isolation….I cried when i couldn’t even hear laughters when I can see you physically laughing motion. I also found myself lately having hell of problem understanding my own boyfriend with newer sets of hearing aids. It cut his voice off as noise!
WE are all NOT created equal when it comes to hearing ability. Each one of us have special needs. Don’t dump me into this GENERIC sameness of hearing loss! I don’t need quietness to isolate me!
As a UK Registered Hearing Aid Dispenser working in the private sector -I just thought I’d add my two- pennyworth (cents).
Here in England we seem to be the only country which sends hearing impaired people to hospital, when the vast majority have a hearing loss for which there is no medical procedure or medication that can help.
The NHS is very good in providing help for children & those that would benefit from surgery or cochlear implants, but , in my view, is spending far too much in the way of resources in supplying, free at the point of delivery, aids to the public -when their Audiologists could be concentrating on their areas of excellence.
After all, if one’s eyesight is below par, then a visit to a Retail Optician will resolve the problem, (subsidised by the Govt. for pensioners & those in receipt of benefits) The Opthalmic Optician will refer any patient to their doctor /specialist if they present with any referrable symptoms, just as we private sector Hearing Aid Dispensers do.
A similar way of providing / retailing Hearing Aids would I’m sure be of benefit to all…..
Voucher system like in italy. If you need HA you book the appointment, you get the voucher from the NHS and then you’re free to go wherever you want. The dispensers will have a choice of products at the cost of the voucher (around 500 euros per aid) or you can decide to add some money to the voucher to get a better product, less visible or more advanced.
The dispensers are obliged to have in their catalogues the products “free of charge” for the patient (product with specific features defined by the NHS) but then it’s the patient that will decide to go with the basic NHS aid or with something better.
Final results: less cost for the government, better choice for the patients, no waiting lists, real competition.
Hearing aids suck? For many people probably not but for me, yes! “Your loss is not that great and more of a nuisance than anything else” as some specialist called it. It certainly is.
My loss is in the low frequency range since the age of 24 and because I have become more affluent over the last 15 years I have spent many thousands of dollars (Australian) on aids with the latest technology.
What gets me is the fact that when I try (again) another audiologist, they always tell me that: oh yes, things have so improved from a few years ago, we can definitely help you hear in mildly noisy surroundings. However, it is never true. Then the story goes: “you need more time to get used to the sound”. Like six months, a year? give me a break.
Sounds are only ever louder, never clearer. Now, yesterday, I have been told that my type of hearing loss is neigh impossible to treat. Hello?
I’m sure there are many more people with stories like mine; we should perhaps say “audiologists suck, not hearing aids”.
I wouldnt give them back. But they are so frustrating. When i wear a hat,kiss or hug hubby wheee goes my hearing aids(which i got to have snotty people laugh about it-hahaha).
The new sounds are overwhelming. It hurts to wear glasses with them.
But, I got to hear ocean for first time this year,the sound of water and birds. Voices are still muffled and i will be deaf not too long from now, so i have to learn ASL(audiologist and hubby making me in a nice way)
I wasn’t given in false promises that it would perform a miracle.
Hearing aids are definitely too expensive - paying for the middle man.
But I must add, that our insurance company just recently added a benefit of paying $2000 every three years for hearing aid cost. Get the cost of aids down and we will be all set.
What middle man? Are you referring to your audiologist? I couldn’t have made it through the transition to hearing again without my audiologist. I’m sure she isn’t getting paid enough if every patient puts her through half of what I put her through. I don’t think they make that much money. She doesn’t drive a nice car and she works alone in her office, so there does not appear to be a lot of overhead at her office. I hadn’t heard much for more than 15 years before I got my hearing aids and I had a very tough time transitioning. I had no idea that I would hear EVERYTHING including the things I didn’t want to hear. It seems like common sense but I just didn’t expect a lot of things when I got hearing aids. It took me a good year to finally get adjusted to hearing again. She has been nothing but patient with me and has seen me countless times to work through my issues and difficulties adjusting. I don’t think you appreciate how hard our audiologists work for us. We can be pretty tough on them and all they are trying to do is help us. Hearing aids are expensive, but for those of us who need them, they are priceless.