My aids are fine. Never had a problem. I simply didnt realise you could +/- volume other than manually.. The only adjustment I use is reduce treble when I play guitar.
Worked for me
My understanding is you have to wait for a referral to see an audiologist and get a prescription.
I went down the route of two hearing tests at both boots and specsavers. It was advice on here to go to the gp having been fobbed off by them to finally see the doctors. Again they tried to fob me off. Bottom line I had a fantastic test at the hospital and am now in waiting list for a fitting. The thing that really surprised me was the hearing aids I will be fitted for. Otican.
I went down the route of two hearing tests at both boots and specsavers. It was advice on here to go to the gp having been fobbed off by them to finally see the doctors. Again they tried to fob me off. Bottom line I had a fantastic test at the hospital and am now in waiting list for a fitting. The thing that really surprised me was the hearing aids I will be fitted for. Otican.
My advice. Book an appointment with a GP. DO NOT TELL THE RECEPTIONIST WHY. And get a referral. Yes it might take a couple of months, but when you are entitled to hearing aids on the NHS. Why pay a couple of grand.
Mine are insured on my house insurance as a named item. From memory there was an insignificant amount extra for their cover, same as I get cover for my golf clubs.
My NHS ones are Oticon and come with Bluetooth and have a setting via the app to reduce the sound behind me when in a crowded room . bit bulky behind the ear but most folks don't notice them until I mention I'm now wearing hearing aids
That’s good they now have Bluetooth. My current aids have settings for various scenarios including what you are talking about where I can switch the rear facing microphone off in noisy places.
] againIt's worth getting the best ones you can afford - my brother bought the cheaper ones that did everything that he needed. However, he found that when he went to gigs, they didn't fully cover all frequencies, so music sounded wierd until he upgraded.
I’m glad he got the resolution to his problem.
What I found very interesting when I had one hearing test was that all letters are heard in different frequencies.( The lady at the hospital explained it like this.)Which make words that end up being in different frequencies. So when you don’t hear a word correctly it’s because it/ the word partly falls into a frequency where you have hearing loss. That where the brain works harder to insert a word and one of the reasons we inadvertently look at people lips when they talk. Covid was especially difficult for people with hearing loss because nigh on everyone wore masks, so lip reading was out.
Yes Covid was bad enough but masks were a nightmare.What I found very interesting when I had one hearing test was that all letters are heard in different frequencies.( The lady at the hospital explained it like this.)Which make words that end up being in different frequencies. So when you don’t hear a word correctly it’s because it/ the word partly falls into a frequency where you have hearing loss. That where the brain works harder to insert a word and one of the reasons we inadvertently look at people lips when they talk. Covid was especially difficult for people with hearing loss because nigh on everyone wore masks, so lip reading was out.
Another thing. Because the brain has to work harder when you have hearing loss. It is a contributor to dementia. So although hearing aids primarily help with hearing loss. There are further greater benefits.
NHS options available do not include those able to do tinnitus therapy and would also need me to go back to the GP and get a referral to go back into Scrivens for an NHS fitting.
