Hearing aids

Tash. I got them on NHS last March. 9 weeks from asking to getting! I applied after a friend told me he'd got them in no time and was on the verge of forking out a lot.
My family had been banging on to me for absolute ages and my response was always "I am not walking around with a banana on my ear"!. It came to a head when we went to a theatre to see a comic i love (Jimeoin). I must have caught less than 50% of his routine because of his low pitch and audience hubhub.
Once youve been fitted there is a local no appointment clinic for help with any issues with the aids.
I have two. The test showed I had equal decline in both ears (ie age related).
Upside - TV volume down from 35 to 12 and its me telling everyone to turn it down!
I can hear everyone in the clubhouse.
They are very discreet and its me who has pointed them out to friends
Downside, me sitting in my armchair saying to wife " Its hammering down out there" and wife replies "Thats the washing machine, dear" - three rooms away!
Downside two - people talking on the next fairway causing me to stop mid swing thinking someone's talking to me.
PS two years battery supply and free replacement of tubes and ear insert.
 
Ear Cleaning Pack

I appreciate this doesn't answer the question re: tinnitus and hearing aids but might help someone.

Before Christmas I had a bit of a worrying episode with a blocked ear and muffled sound out of nowhere, it went through my mind that I'd maybe lost hearing overnight.

I went to the pharmacy first to discuss it and they mentioned ear wax build up which I didn't really know was a thing. Anyway, about 3 days of ear drops and then a good blasting of warm water with the squeezy bottle in the link and I couldn't believe what was coming out of my ear into the sink. I ended up doing both ears, there was a whole load of gunk, including several small chunks of greeny/brown deposit.
My hearing definitely became clearer so I'd recommend anyone to start doing it on a regular basis.
Whether you have more serious hearing issues or not, having years of build up in there can't be helping.
 
Neilds said:
SHOULD THIS THREAD BE IN CAPITALS SO TASHY CAN HEAR US? :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Having been severely deaf for the majority of my life I find this “joke” insulting.
I’ve had a life of trying to explain to people of my lack of hearing so they can make adjustments when they talk to me.
I have a had number of idiots who think they are funny to reply “pardon” and laugh.
Would you go up to a person in a wheelchair and say “stand up you lazy git” or a blind person “sorry I didn’t see you there”
Just because deafness is a hidden disability it shouldn’t be treated as a joke.
 
Eesat 90210 said:
Ear Cleaning Pack

I appreciate this doesn't answer the question re: tinnitus and hearing aids but might help someone.

Before Christmas I had a bit of a worrying episode with a blocked ear and muffled sound out of nowhere, it went through my mind that I'd maybe lost hearing overnight.

I went to the pharmacy first to discuss it and they mentioned ear wax build up which I didn't really know was a thing. Anyway, about 3 days of ear drops and then a good blasting of warm water with the squeezy bottle in the link and I couldn't believe what was coming out of my ear into the sink. I ended up doing both ears, there was a whole load of gunk, including several small chunks of greeny/brown deposit.
My hearing definitely became clearer so I'd recommend anyone to start doing it on a regular basis.
Whether you have more serious hearing issues or not, having years of build up in there can't be helping.
Click to expand...
When I worked at the pit/ medical centre, we were trained to Syringe ears.The lads would have to put Olive Oil in the ears to soften the wax first for a week. Some of the gunk that came out 😳
One day a lad came in and was complaining an insect had flown into his ear, the scratching and noise in his ear was driving him barmy. I had a Quick Look and it looked like a flying am Ros was in his ear. I syringed it out eventually and he flattened it with his hand after a Quick Look at it.
Re ears and wax. Some folk produce a lot of wax and some none.
Re me , Tinnitus and perforated ear drums are not a good combination.
 
So today Tashyboy has been to Boots for his hearing test etc. I was impressed, very very impressed indeed. Not with my hearing and certainly not the physical stated my ears.
Just going back a decade or two.
Tashyboy did hearing tests for the guys at the pit, so basically I went in there knowing it all. WRONG.
Our hearing tests were going through all frequencies. This is similar, but they also do it with background noise. That bit might sound boring but not if you are in a pub and struggle to hear a conversation because of others talking. There’s another test where you repeat a sentence, easy enough but the background noise becomes louder. This indicates the brains ability compute what you are hearing. Finally a quick photo of you ears. Sweet lord they are a mess.My left has a massive perforation with plenty of scarring. My better right ear has two small perforations and again as much scarring.
The results from the hearing showed the hearing loss but against the drop in hearing were the letters of the alphabet of which fall into the bracket of struggle to hear because of hearing loss. So if you hear “ loot” it could actually be Boot. Your brain has compensated because it could not pick up the “ L”.
Suffice to say “AM DEAF”.
So the guy in Boots showed me some hearing aids. I honestly did not know they were in. The do make my ears stick out like Quark in deep space Nine, But I sounded like Tin man in the Wizard of Oz. It was strange. He said that changes once the brain gets used to it. But flippin eck, it was like listening in HD.
So the bottom line was the Hearing aids are £3,000. Missis T says go for it. But I am still waiting for an appointment,ent at the hospital before I kinda make a decision. Why? I want to know from a non sellers point of view will there be much of a dig fence between NHS and the Phonak Infinio 70’s he recommended. But more importantly I want to know the full breakdown of the state of my ears.

Anyone got these Phonak infinio 70’s and any thoughts on them. Appreciated.

Just going off topic a bit, he mentioned these hearing aids are future proofed for the newer Bluetooth that is coming in.Its not called Bluetooth but flippin eck technology.Where will it end
 
Tashyboy said:
So today Tashyboy has been to Boots for his hearing test etc. I was impressed, very very impressed indeed. Not with my hearing and certainly not the physical stated my ears.
Just going back a decade or two.
Tashyboy did hearing tests for the guys at the pit, so basically I went in there knowing it all. WRONG.
Our hearing tests were going through all frequencies. This is similar, but they also do it with background noise. That bit might sound boring but not if you are in a pub and struggle to hear a conversation because of others talking. There’s another test where you repeat a sentence, easy enough but the background noise becomes louder. This indicates the brains ability compute what you are hearing. Finally a quick photo of you ears. Sweet lord they are a mess.My left has a massive perforation with plenty of scarring. My better right ear has two small perforations and again as much scarring.
The results from the hearing showed the hearing loss but against the drop in hearing were the letters of the alphabet of which fall into the bracket of struggle to hear because of hearing loss. So if you hear “ loot” it could actually be Boot. Your brain has compensated because it could not pick up the “ L”.
Suffice to say “AM DEAF”.
So the guy in Boots showed me some hearing aids. I honestly did not know they were in. The do make my ears stick out like Quark in deep space Nine, But I sounded like Tin man in the Wizard of Oz. It was strange. He said that changes once the brain gets used to it. But flippin eck, it was like listening in HD.
So the bottom line was the Hearing aids are £3,000. Missis T says go for it. But I am still waiting for an appointment,ent at the hospital before I kinda make a decision. Why? I want to know from a non sellers point of view will there be much of a dig fence between NHS and the Phonak Infinio 70’s he recommended. But more importantly I want to know the full breakdown of the state of my ears.

Anyone got these Phonak infinio 70’s and any thoughts on them. Appreciated.

Just going off topic a bit, he mentioned these hearing aids are future proofed for the newer Bluetooth that is coming in.Its not called Bluetooth but flippin eck technology.Where will it end
Click to expand...
They sound very similar to the ones my brother has. They are noise cancelling as well, and being bluetooth (type connection) he doesn't even have to take his phone out of his pocket to answer it or anyone know his phone is ringing.
They figure you quote is about the same my brother paid. He didn't want to pay really, but the NHS option as a lot more clunkly, bulky and they also only wanted to give him one.
He is very glad he has his, and totally trusts Boots on it.
 
Tashyboy said:
So today Tashyboy has been to Boots for his hearing test etc. I was impressed, very very impressed indeed. Not with my hearing and certainly not the physical stated my ears.
Just going back a decade or two.
Tashyboy did hearing tests for the guys at the pit, so basically I went in there knowing it all. WRONG.
Our hearing tests were going through all frequencies. This is similar, but they also do it with background noise. That bit might sound boring but not if you are in a pub and struggle to hear a conversation because of others talking. There’s another test where you repeat a sentence, easy enough but the background noise becomes louder. This indicates the brains ability compute what you are hearing. Finally a quick photo of you ears. Sweet lord they are a mess.My left has a massive perforation with plenty of scarring. My better right ear has two small perforations and again as much scarring.
The results from the hearing showed the hearing loss but against the drop in hearing were the letters of the alphabet of which fall into the bracket of struggle to hear because of hearing loss. So if you hear “ loot” it could actually be Boot. Your brain has compensated because it could not pick up the “ L”.
Suffice to say “AM DEAF”.
So the guy in Boots showed me some hearing aids. I honestly did not know they were in. The do make my ears stick out like Quark in deep space Nine, But I sounded like Tin man in the Wizard of Oz. It was strange. He said that changes once the brain gets used to it. But flippin eck, it was like listening in HD.
So the bottom line was the Hearing aids are £3,000. Missis T says go for it. But I am still waiting for an appointment,ent at the hospital before I kinda make a decision. Why? I want to know from a non sellers point of view will there be much of a dig fence between NHS and the Phonak Infinio 70’s he recommended. But more importantly I want to know the full breakdown of the state of my ears.

Anyone got these Phonak infinio 70’s and any thoughts on them. Appreciated.

Just going off topic a bit, he mentioned these hearing aids are future proofed for the newer Bluetooth that is coming in.Its not called Bluetooth but flippin eck technology.Where will it end
Click to expand...

Interesting info tashy. You have left out the AI technology! I hadn’t heard about the auracast (new Bluetooth) before, it sounds interesting. I’ve never had a photo of my ear, but the middle ear is not my problem. My problem is in the cochlea.
My current aids are coming up to 4 years old which is when my warranty runs out.
I’ve been thinking about upgrading soon. I go to an independent shop for my aids from where I get excellent service from. Any problems and I can get an appointment whithin a day or two.
I used boots about 20 years ago and the service then wasn’t great but still better than the NHS. I think I’ll book a test to see for myself.
 
Tash, dont give up on the NHS option. As I said earlier, I was 9 weeks from referral to fitting and they're all I needed to improve my condition, and I find them discreet (and I'm vain 😎).
Having said that, I don't have your condition. But, if you can get NHS aids you can at least decide if they're adequate or not.
 
Tash being Tash, I did a bit of digging. Apparently the people that run Boots hearing side of things are a third party company. Now don’t get me wrong they are supposed to be good. From my point of view they were very very good. Now suprise suprise, the hearing aids they promote are the ones they make. 🤔 however having googled them they are rated very very good.
Am gonna sit on the fence a bit because I want some advice from the hospital re the state of my ears. But more importantly will there be much improvement from NHS to private hearing aids. 👍
 
Having had my NHS aids since May 24 the one thing that baffled me was equalising the volume between the two.
It's a fiddle.When I pressed the volume +/- on one, the other one bleeped too so I had no idea if they were in sync. Anyway, it wasn't that big a deal.
The other issue was that I play acoustic guitar. With my aids in it sounded totally "jangly". With no aids it sounded totally "dull".
Anyhoo, i discovered from a pal yesterday that there is a phone app that you can pair with the aids. I assumed that such an app could only be used with expensive bluetooth aids, not battery inserted aids.
I downloaded it and can now adjust volume individually for left and right so I don't have to remove them and fiddle. I can also balance bass, middle and treble.
My guitar "problem" is now "improved". I say "improved" because I suspect that the aids will not replicate perfect hearing. But.....at least its no longer "dull".
 
Once more Tash has been doing a bit of digging today. I had kinda got my head around the Phonek hearing aid and thought i would have a look at specsavers and see what there hearing aids are. They do the Phonek, exact same ones but are £600 cheaper 😳 the top of the range ones are £300 cheaper than the second top ones I saw at Boots. Missis T mentioned that why Boots knock off 10% and offer interest free because the price is high in the first place.
But and this is a massive but, specsaver do an hearing aid that is rated third best in UK, Phonek rated 5th best. But this particular hearing aid sits in the ear like apple ear buds. And they are even cheaper.
So am booked into Specsavers Wednesday, so questions I need to ask.
Do specsavers do interest free like Boots.
Do Boots do price match.
Are inner ear buds comfy.
 
Tashyboy said:
Once more Tash has been doing a bit of digging today. I had kinda got my head around the Phonek hearing aid and thought i would have a look at specsavers and see what there hearing aids are. They do the Phonek, exact same ones but are £600 cheaper 😳 the top of the range ones are £300 cheaper than the second top ones I saw at Boots. Missis T mentioned that why Boots knock off 10% and offer interest free because the price is high in the first place.
But and this is a massive but, specsaver do an hearing aid that is rated third best in UK, Phonek rated 5th best. But this particular hearing aid sits in the ear like apple ear buds. And they are even cheaper.
So am booked into Specsavers Wednesday, so questions I need to ask.
Do specsavers do interest free like Boots.
Do Boots do price match.
Are inner ear buds comfy.
Click to expand...
What do you anticipate final cost?
 
Is that CISWO. Upper Boat, Pontypridd?
A week or so back I described a bad experience in a "restaurant" on the irritations thread. That was the Upper Boat Inn, several decades ago 🙄
 
Sid Rixon IV said:
Having had my NHS aids since May 24 the one thing that baffled me was equalising the volume between the two.
It's a fiddle.When I pressed the volume +/- on one, the other one bleeped too so I had no idea if they were in sync. Anyway, it wasn't that big a deal.
The other issue was that I play acoustic guitar. With my aids in it sounded totally "jangly". With no aids it sounded totally "dull".
Anyhoo, i discovered from a pal yesterday that there is a phone app that you can pair with the aids. I assumed that such an app could only be used with expensive bluetooth aids, not battery inserted aids.
I downloaded it and can now adjust volume individually for left and right so I don't have to remove them and fiddle. I can also balance bass, middle and treble.
My guitar "problem" is now "improved". I say "improved" because I suspect that the aids will not replicate perfect hearing. But.....at least it’s no longer "dull".
Click to expand...
You seem to have a bad fitting from your NHS audiologist. Firstly they should have told you about the APP. Secondly and much more importantly the actual settings to your aids must be pretty poor also. If you have improved your hearing on your aids by playing around with volumes on each aid and the balance on the frequencies the hearing test really must have been quite poor.
Have you been able to save your own settings to your App? I have Starkey aids and use their APP Thrive, which I can save settings to for specific situations.
 
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