I Have recently had a hearing test (suggested over past couple of years by wife Chris) and guess what they agree with her but the real shock came when they advised me on the hearing aids that I needed at a cost of $11590 with the pensioner discount voucher it takes $1400 off, discussed other ones and selected one that they wanted $8090 for so like most smart Grey Nomads I hoped on line for a bit of research.

The aids I am looking at are the Oticon Acto Pro, and research indicates they are one of the better ones but when I checked prices I found another company in city (Sydney) selling them for $2100 cheaper but did not accept Government voucher, so rang back to Audio clinic and they instantly reduced the cost by $1000 and they accept the voucher.

It always pays to research and also to be prepared to barter on price, I have never worn hearin aids to date and would be interested in comments from anyone who has same or similar ones, mine are quite small and fit behind the ear with a small tube leading into the ear, they also have a wireless option for using mobile & home phones as well as TV I would appreciate any advice on use or your experiances with this type of aid.  

 

 

Quite happy with the ones I got a few weeks ago. "pensioner pack" that work quite well and allow me to participate in social occasions much better. I had no extra costs to pay and had to get aids for both ears.
Geoff

G'day

Hearing aids suit some people but with my industrial deafness the loss is in the high range and the government subsidised ones are a real pain, mine are still sitting in a drawer used em a couple of times. What it did with my hearing was to increase the low frequency to the extent that walking on gravel sounded like being in a room with ice falling all around you. The hearing services push this and only give you the basic aid and they get around $5000 per set. Then when you complain that your hearing is worse they push the big ticket items.

Like I said it suits some and not others, Guess I will keep saying aye or sorry but only when there are alot of noises or sounds around.

If people would talk whilst facing you I have no problems, lots of noise is the problem. I will not be forking out $10,000 plus, just put up with it.

Just another part of growing old I guess.

Cheers

Kev 

I would rather go without, not willing to pay for them and would rather not hear some of those noises Beth talks about.

way2gokev wrote:

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G'day

Hearing aids suit some people but with my industrial deafness the loss is in the high range and the government subsidised ones are a real pain, mine are still sitting in a drawer used em a couple of times. What it did with my hearing was to increase the low frequency to the extent that walking on gravel sounded like being in a room with ice falling all around you. The hearing services push this and only give you the basic aid and they get around $5000 per set. Then when you complain that your hearing is worse they push the big ticket items. 

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 Hi Kev

My dad (now in his 80's) like myself suffer from high frequency loss.

He had the Govenment subsidised units and like you really struggled. He has since purchased a set of the costco premimum units and couldnt be happier.

Cheers

Mike

I had the notion that audiologists were highly trained specialists whose white coats suggested that their patient interests were always paramount. What i learnt very quickly is that most of what i have said is correct but they are also business people out to make a dollar.

I am profoundly deaf right side with moderate to severe lost left side. Things started going wrong at about age 30,no one knows why.

First quote $11,000. When i complained she said " this one will work also, $9,000." I was very suspicious about the whole deal! How can such a small devise cost that much? Why the sudden reduction in price?

Ears what i did. I contacted a teaching hospital and asked to speak to the audiologist, Flinders University in Adelaide and made an appointment. I am now being cared for by the tutor who teaches the science at Flinders and have been for the last 12 years or so. Sometimes students sit in mostly not however.

This is what she did on my first appointment. Did some tests and offered me a few choices with a trial run for a week free of charge with my first set. When i went back she asked me to trial a different second set for a week also free with a different type ear mould. Would you believe it next was yet a third set. The last one was outstanding. Volume control, phone feature, party setting, worked a treat. THEN she fine tuned the settings. Cost for two was $4,000. of which i got i think $1500 back at tax time. Fantastic service fantastic aids.

 aussietraveller....shop around.....try at least two different units for free.......contact a teaching hospital.

 

 

 

My husband has hearing aids, which are the behind the ear ones with the tube going to a plug in the ear canal. They cost him nothing, he loves it and so do I, I can have the TV on low now and he can hear everything. But he still suffers from selective deafness, and no hearing aid fixes that lol

I need hearing aids as well, and I got the ones that fit in the ears themselves....but I have never been able to wear them, as anything that goes in my ear canal causes extreme pain. So I just go without.

Together though we hear perfectly. I can't hear in crowds, he can. He can hear high sounds, I can't. I can hear low sounds, he can't, so together we are perfect lol

Been following this thread with some interest, my hearing is not as good as it could be and I may well need a hearing aid/s some time in the not too distant future.

What staggered me was the prices being tossed around.

Did a search of US sites and it seems prices are dramatically lower over there, to the point it would almost be cheaper to travel to the US have a holiday and buy what you want while over there.

Dear Aussie traveller, I know how much aids are and it can be very prohibitive.However there may be some help in sight. Is your hearing impairment caused by work?

I am a cabinetmaker,carpenter/joiner,and as such have been using nail guns etc all my working life. I bought my first hearing aids at a cost of over $8000. This was about 6 years ago so you can appreciate costs have risen.

While in a park on one of our trips I was having a chat with a fellow also with hearing aids. He asked me were  mine an insurance claim.

On saying no he gave me a phone number to ring. It is a lawyer in Sydney.

Well,the upshot of the story is after testing etc I received $32000,a new set of hearing aids and a new pair every 5 years.The number in Sydney is...0280053777.

David,I really hope this helps you out. Kind regards ....Jim

Rip and Rosie wrote:

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Mine are tiny ones, behind the ears, with a very fine tube which goes into the ear canal.
They have 3 settings which are specifically tuned for my hearing. these settings adjust for different environments, e.g noisy caves where they reduce the noise behind me, so I can hear the conversation from the person seated with me. Great!

They cost 1200 for the two of them.

They are not tinny.

They are more then amplifiers.

They allow me th hear the sounds I have lost, e.g. I can't hear difference between the soft sounds like sh, ph, f, etc, so I guess lots of works and usually get them wrong! Another thing I can't remember the last time I heard a mosquito buzz!

I got mine from Hearing Life Australia.

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 I think I'd rather hear the mossies coming Rosie.

Lol my daughter did that rice trick when her darling 4yr old son took his PS3 to the toilet with him and dropped it in accidentally. After 4 days in the rice, the PS3 is still working perfectly 6 months later. This is a great idea for nearly all electronic devices that get wet at one time or other.

 Thanks every body for your advice the level of response and the information provided has been great. 

I too have just got hearing aids. Connect Hearing. Government voucher plus refund from health fund (once every 5 years for that) so all I ended up paying was $870. They are fine tuned for me via the Connect Hearing computer. I get all batteries supplied and all maintenance. All visits are billed to government and other maintenance is $41pa. I could have chosen the government provided ones but chose the next ones up. Yes, I am still trying to get used to them (the keyboard is making an awful clatter!) I thought I only had a small hearing loss but I'm surprised at how much I can now hear - and that's with them turned on at 70% volume. The volume will go up 5% every month for 6 months. Watch out kids - I'll hear everything you say behind my back by the time I have 100% hearing!!
I choose to only wear them for 3 or 4 hours a day at the moment. I was told this helps the brain to cope with all the new sounds I'm hearing. I have found that they do automatically block out some of the background noise in a crowd and I can hear the person who is talking to me better than before. Now my husband is the one who has the TV too loud! And I'm told I am speaking more softly.
We have a friend who was always loud and 'in your face'. She got 2 hearing aids and she was a new woman. She spoke so softly I was then having trouble hearing her and she no longer needed to be 'in your face'.
I was told that the one that fits into your ear is too hard to keep clean and doesn't work for all hearing losses.
So far, I am very happy with mine - no, sorry, I still have trouble knowing where to put the phone when I have the aid in. Putting it above the ear seems strange.

jules47 wrote:

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I recently got hearing aids - and with the government scheme, they cost me nothing, only the $41 annual maintenance fee - boy do you go through a lot of batteries though, when you wear them constantly, I am only using them when I need to - some TV shows or movies, or some people who speak really softly.

Takes a while to get used to them, amazing how many small noises I never heard before - the rustle of clothing for instance - road noise - small birds, and I even found out that I had been singing the wrong words to a song for years!!!! I also had to learn to moderate my speech, because I could hear myself so clearly, thought I was talking very loud, turns out I was speaking very quietly.

I got small ones that fit behind the ear, with a plastic tube into the ear - colour is sort of steel grey, which matches my hair colour, and they are pretty well invisible when in place.

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 I can relate to all of that !