Hearing aids?

Will Carter

Will Carter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 23, 2005
Location
Burlington
We have an employee who is a crucial gear in the machine but has hearing problems. They've become worse over the past couple of years to the point that it's jeopardizing customer service. We want to buy her some up to date hearing aids. She went to the doctor and got prices anywhere from $2000 to $7000. Anyone have any experience with newer hearing aid tech?

Some tones are easier than others for her to hear. She can't hear me at all and has to watch my mouth move if I'm talking in an appropriate office setting volume.

She talks to customers in person and on the phone all day.
 
My dad just got a set after being told for 20+ years he needed them. He got a set that is bluetooth capable with mic capabilities. He has an app on his phone that can control volume/settings/ etc. He can answer calls/listen to music etc through them. He went through the VA to get them. I'll see about getting a model number from him.
 
I've heard the ones you get through Costco are just as good as the ones people pay thousands more for. I know the day will come but it ain't here yet so that's all I got.
 
Buddy just got hooked up to buy a pair cheap by a funeral home putting him in contact with a family. Dead guys don't need 5k hearing aids. Or shoes.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
Man that's f**ked up I have hearing aids but yes 6k is the going rate total bull shit if u ask me. To many years sitting on on zero turn.
 
kaiser715 said:
Buddy just got hooked up to buy a pair cheap by a funeral home putting him in contact with a family. Dead guys don't need 5k hearing aids. Or shoes.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Makes total sense to me, family might as well recoup some of the cost
 
Mom's been wearing hearing aids for 15+ years now and she recommends Costco hearing aids, surprisingly.

Hers are in the ~$7,000 range and she says she doesn't necessarily recommend them.
 
I can't explain it, but most men [not sure of women] hear the low frequencies better. We loose the High pitch, first. I've had diminished hearing in my left ear for years, but not enough for me to know. But in the last couple years, it Has gotten worse. I Say, I'm really not that bad, but I realize many times, "I hear, but don't understand". The Worst is the tiny little girls at fast food places, speaking to me. First, an ol man Can't hear them, & second, what I hear, I can't understand! Huu, What, Speak up!
And maybe, that's why I Don't like Bluetooth;; "What? I can't hear You! Stupid Bluetooth." :shaking:
 
rodney eppes said:
I can't explain it, but most men [not sure of women] hear the low frequencies better. We loose the High pitch, first. I've had diminished hearing in my left ear for years, but not enough for me to know. But in the last couple years, it Has gotten worse. I Say, I'm really not that bad, but I realize many times, "I hear, but don't understand". The Worst is the tiny little girls at fast food places, speaking to me. First, an ol man Can't hear them, & second, what I hear, I can't understand! Huu, What, Speak up!
And maybe, that's why I Don't like Bluetooth;; "What? I can't hear You! Stupid Bluetooth." :shaking:
Click to expand...
That's typical. Normal conductive loss normally starts w/ higher frequencies and works its way down. Has to do with the physiology and structure of the basilar membrane.
Human hearing is "tuned" to be more sensitive to mid-lower frequencies anyway (best centered in the 1 KHz range), a lot of folks hypothesize it's b/c it's centered around human speech.
As you get older, hair cells get less flexible and aren't all stimulated like they used to (esp. inner hair cells), this is part of the "understanding people" problem.
 
My hearing has been fading for years, too many years of loud music as a DJ, working in car stereo, and just being a dumbass and not wearing hearing protection when I should. I can't hear at all in crowded rooms or when there's a lot of background noise.

I'd love to get some but I'd be afraid I wouldn't wear them. I've spoken with an Otologist about it, have done hearing test, and have gotten prices from 1500 to 8k. They even have them with Bluetooth capability now.... yep you could link your phone directly to the hearing aid.
 
RobMcBee said:
My hearing has been fading for years, too many years of loud music as a DJ, working in car stereo, and just being a dumbass and not wearing hearing protection when I should. I can't hear at all in crowded rooms or when there's a lot of background noise.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat with regards to not being able to hear in crowded rooms etc. I played the drums in high school, had a stupid loud stereo in my car for a few years, and rode 2-stroke dirt bikes non-stop for MANY years. I wear ear plugs PLUS the big headset ear mufflers whenever I run a chainsaw, weedeater, lawn mower, or anything loud now. I've been using double protection like that for many years now. Before I bought a tow rig, I used to wear ear plugs when driving my Bronco down to Uwharrie, lol. I used to wear the big headset ear mufflers while holding my son when he was a baby and crying nonstop at times, lol. I'm just trying to keep what I've got!
 
Wear fucking earplugs.
Wear fucking earplugs.
Wear your fucking earplugs.

Danny already said it, but it's worth stating again and again.

We listened to Youtube test tone videos at work one day, just to see what the highest frequency was that people could hear. I was surprised to find that I had better hearing than folks younger than me. There's some physiology involved, I'm sure. But protecting your ears doesn't hurt.
 
shawn said:
Wear fucking earplugs.
Wear fucking earplugs.
Wear your fucking earplugs.

Danny already said it, but it's worth stating again and again.

We listened to Youtube test tone videos at work one day, just to see what the highest frequency was that people could hear. I was surprised to find that I had better hearing than folks younger than me. There's some physiology involved, I'm sure. But protecting your ears doesn't hurt.
Click to expand...

THIS!
I never did. Then I got into an audiology/ audio physiology lab and it really opened my eyes. Took a test once to be a participant in a coworker's study, turns out I already had a slight loss at high frequencies. Didn't even know it. I always wear muffs now.

This is one of those physio things that can only get worse, and never better.

And yes, there's definitely a lot of heredity/individual physiology involved in the rate you lose it, but that is a far smaller contributor than the loss from damage.
 
orange150 said:
I could hear all those frequencies
Click to expand...

It wasn't that one, but that's the general idea. We were listening to ones where each video was a discrete frequency. Listen to the ones from 15 kHz to 22 kHz and see how you do.
 
Woah, I didn't pick it up until 31Hz, and lost it at about 13,000Hz

43 yrs old
 
this is a depressing thread lol.

could start hearing around 25 hz

my left ear quit at 4k, my right could hear everything up around 15k, but it sounded like the program faded down the hz, as it the freq appeared to increase right at end

explains why I never use the phone on my left ear.

pretty sure my damage is from not using ear plugs when I should. I wear them now religiously.

cant help the OP,

but one of my students has the Bluetooth ones with app on his phone. when he has trouble with a specific person, he will optimize the settings to help. It also has geographical chnges. For example, it automatically reduces amplification when he enters the welding shop, but increases it back to normal for the classroom. it also "filters" out loud bangs, like a hammer strike or grinder, while still amplifying my voice over the shop noise,

pretty cool, and it helps him a bunch, but I have no idea how much $$$
 
Last edited:
There has to be some speaker quality at play here.I picked up about 115Hz and lost it right at 9800Hz.

Ive known I was partially deaf (especially in my left ear) but this is bad.
 
Ron said:
There has to be some speaker quality at play here.I picked up about 115Hz and lost it right at 9800Hz.

Ive known I was partially deaf (especially in my left ear) but this is bad.
Click to expand...

There is some for sure. My speakers built into my computer I didn't pick up until around 130, headphones I picked up at 21
 
Mine is bad. I have tinnitus constant in my left ear. I need hearing aids, but I'm waiting to get it service connected until I am over the 15 year mark in the Army. Don't want to get kicked out yet.

image.jpg
 
orange150 said:
This one?


I could hear all those frequencies :D
Click to expand...

orange150 said:


Picked up at 20 and lost it at 17.5...
Click to expand...

Mac5005 said:
this is a depressing thread lol.

could start hearing around 25 hz

my left ear quit at 4k, my right could hear everything up around 15k, but it sounded like the program faded down the hz, as it the freq appeared to increase right at end

explains why I never use the phone on my left ear.

pretty sure my damage is from not using ear plugs when I should. I wear them now religiously.
Click to expand...
Ron said:
There has to be some speaker quality at play here.I picked up about 115Hz and lost it right at 9800Hz.

Ive known I was partially deaf (especially in my left ear) but this is bad.
Click to expand...

Guys, this is a neat demo but almost worthless for anything besides demonstrating "loudness" contours.
E.g. notice hoe the sound actually gets louder as you move up, then gets softer, that's b/c your ear, and brain, naturally amplifies specific frequencies over others. Technically all the waves are the same amplitude.

Anyway, it REALLY MATTERS how loud the speakers are, their quality, how far away your head is to them, and whether you are directly centered between the two. Only way to be even close is via headphones.
I could just turn up the volume and hear the higher frequencies when I couldn't at a lower volume.
 
Back
Top