[Tweeters] Hearing Aid advice

[Robert O'Brien via Tweeters]

Whoops, should have proof read more.  The Adviser that told me about the
Smart Phone App to adjust the aids was from Costco, not Kaiser as I
mis-stated.  Sorry.  Needless to say, I did not go back to Kaiser for
anything.

On Sat, Jan 4, 2025 at 11:07 AM Robert O'Brien <baro at pdx.edu> wrote:


> I'm glad you asked, John.

> For decades I've had poor hearing in both ears but my left ear was far

> worse.  This was confirmed every two years or so at Kaiser NW here in

> Portland.  Other than showing me the test results, no action was taken by

> Kaiser.

> It had gotten to the point that my wife was constantly asking me to get

> hearing aids, since I was constantly asking her to repeat things.

> Finally Covid hit both of us late, about a year ago.  Neither was very

> serious and soon abated.   Except for my hearing, which became far worse in

> my already bad left ear.  I looked online and found this to be one of many

> after effects of Covid.

> I then went to Kaiser to try to deal with it.  I won't talk about the

> details, which were ridiculous, ultimately culminating with a Kaiser

> Audiology MD giving me a small Kaiser pamphlet describing the process to

> purchase hearing aids from Kaiser.  He wrote into the pamphlet the

> estimated costs for each ear.  $5,000 for the left, $3,000 for the right.

> Total $8000..  He did mention I did not have to purchase them from Kaiser

> (I knew that)..  Wow.  I asked whether over-the-counter hearing aids would

> work.  He doubted it, given the seriousness of my hearing loss.

> My next step was Costco, having my hearing tested there, with the same

> results as Kaiser had gotten.  But the outcome was a little bit different.

> A pair of Costco hearing aids would be $750 each, total $1,500.  Naturally

> I went for that.  The Costco person had extensive experience with their

> hearing aids, although he did not have any real medical training that I

> knew of.  He was very knowledgeable and helpful.  Great.

> When they came in and were 'installed', the hearing in my historically bad

> left ear was restored within a day.  That is, both ears were the same

> *without* the hearing aids. They remain so.  (That after a decade or so

> of tests at Kaiser with no advice).  My hearing was still poor but was

> nicely restored by the Costco hearing aids.  I now could hear high

> frequencies that I had not heard in decades.

> I was so amazed by the restoration of my left ear that I tried to schedule

> another hearing test with Costco to double check the 'miracle in my left

> ear'.  Saw the same Costco person who said that another test was not

> necessary, since the restoration of my left ear was 'normal'.  He was not

> surprised at all.

> I'll let the reader draw their own conclusions about Kaiser Audiology down

> here.

> It's now been almost a year and the hearing aids continue their excellent

> performance.  I have never even adjusted them.

> One caveat though.  Although I can hear the kinglets now, I can't really

> determine the direction of their calls.  Turning 360 degrees is no help.

> This, of course, remains a real Birding deficiency that so far I've not

> tried to correct or deal with.

> Bob OBrien Portland

> P.S. My Kaiser covers Portland and Vancouver.  Seattle would be a

> different 'branch'? of Kaiser that I know nothing about.  Costco has 3 or

> so different manufacturers and I followed the advice of the costco adviser,

> which was not the most expensive.  But the pricing is not that much

> different between them.

> P.P.S.  The Kaiser adviser told me that the hearing aids could be adjusted

> by cell phone but my ancient Samsung S7 phone was not up to the task.  So I

> purchased an S23, used, online.  When I went to download the software for

> the hearing aid (Phillips) I was required to allow Phillips to listen in to

> all of my conversations and sell anything and everything to whomever they

> pleased.  Perhaps this is why they were so cheap?  Sorta like cheap

> printers and expensive ink?  I skipped the software and have not adjusted

> for a year, even though there are buttons on the hearing aids so it can be

> done manually..  I had bought the new (used) phone unnecessarily as my S7

> worked fine.  However the camera on the S23 is far better  than the S7, so

> that was not a total waste of money.

>

>

>

> On Sat, Jan 4, 2025 at 9:07 AM jgretten via Tweeters <

> tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:

>

>> Hello Tweeters,

>>

>> I'm starting to look at hearing aids and was wondering if anyone had

>> advice/experience on brands or types as it relates to hearing birds,

>> particularly those high-pitched kinglets. Thanks.

>>

>> John Grettenberger

>> Olympia. WA

>>

>>

>>

>> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

>>

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>

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