I am looking for my first hearing aid...suggestions?
 

As much as I hate the idea, it is time for me to look for my first set of hearing aids. I have looked at Google Reviews, of course, and find it pretty confusing. So I am asking those of you who have had the experience of buying and using hearing aids to comment on what you have learned and what you would recommend.

All ears.

Michael Murrell
Marsh Bend

Costco or Sam's Club rebrand popular aids and sell them at a fraction of the cost.

yes costco and sams are cheaper but what ever brand you choose make sure they are the newest HA's available as far as technology .. I have a friend who purchased from costco and they were new HA's but 2nd generation technology ... also make sure you have unlimited lifetime visits for adjustments/fine tuning the first few months can be frustrating getting them fine tuned .. if you spend a lot of time outdoors make sure the HA's have a strong wind supression other wise all you will hear is the crackling noise from wind .. another feature is streaming your TV and phone calls .. I find streamimg raises my comprehension to about 90% on most programs and do not need to use closed caption.. and last but not least is battery consumption.. I wear Resound Omnia's and they are rechareable so every night I just stick them in the charger .. I usually wear my HA's about 15hrs a day and still have about 40% charge left at end of the day .. I stream TV anywhere from 5hrs weekdays to 8/10 hrs watching sports on weekends.. streaming TV uses more battery life

Costco, free hearing test, and great price for hearing aids.

Get a good Audiologist to test you before even considering a purchase.
Sam's and Costco seem pretty straight from reviews I have read on this board.
There are some charlatans out there pushing expensive, over need.
Give yourself time to adjust to your aids. I left it late to start using them, and found every day sound LOUD!
In my experience, behind the ear is best. In the ear for me never felt secure.
When you get your test, and quote, shop around, although the two recommendations above are very competitive.
Good luck, and welcome back to the world of sound.

I agree with most of the above, you need a AUDIOLOGIST to test your hearing, there is a difference, and if you happen to have wax build up, most of the hearing TECHINICIANS cannot remove the wax, and Audiologist can. Once you have the hearing test, they can tell you if OTC (Over The Counter) hearing aids are suitable (in my case with moderate hearing loss they are). Then you will need to review the various options, over the ear tend to be less expensive BUT can suffer from wind noise, if you have a convertible car this can be annoying. I have not tried other styles, but will probably stick with this style on the next set.

Al Turri villages health for an evaluation. You can buy or get on subscription basis with maintenance.

Al Turri - Director of Audiology - The Villages Health

I went to Home - Mid Florida Hearing it’s in the Lake Deaton Publix Plaza.
I highly recommend.

I agree with the comments above concerning Costco. The big name store vendors will charge you twice what their worth with a variety of come ons.

Do invest in good technology. I can bluetooth the TV and anything on my phone (music, audio books, etc) directly into my hearing aids. The ability to answer the phone with my aids and then both hear and speak using only the aids is valuable to me. I used my less capable aids only occasionally. I keep these in my ear all day long.

This is excellent advice. If your hearing loss is mild to moderate it isn’t such a big deal but if your hearing loss is severe, like mine, you really need the very latest technology available to be able to fine tune to the frequencies you have lost. My audiologist retests me every year to adjust as necessary.

My audiologist is at The Villages Health. She did the testing, made the recommendations, and gave me a 60-day free trial of the model she recommended. It ended up being a 90-day trial, plus she matched a price for the same model I found online from my FloridaBlue affiliated hearing company (I think it was hearusa.com? Something like that). She also threw in a bluetooth TV streaming device, which I use on my desktop computer, since that's where I usually watch movies and such. With the discounted price I paid, I /also/ get three years of adjustments, a yearly hearing test, firmware updates, one battery replacement, and all the tails and wax caps I need.

Great discussion on hearing aids.
I'm going to take the plunge soon and sitting here taking notes.

Welcome to a world of frustration

The Villages Health - $6000+ per pair
Costco - under $2000 with free lifetime adjustments
Both, top-line name-brand.

OTC - under $1000

Why? I just got one 3 weeks ago. I don’t have frustration.