Private Hearing Aids?

Hi I recently had a private hearing test and tried out two new hearing aids at The Hearing Clinic UK.

I could hear the consonant sound 'th' for the first time in years and my own voice sounded much better. It normally sounds stretchy and tinny with my NHS hearing aids.

I have sensorineural hearing loss and find speech sounds muffled due to struggling with consonants. I am ok with vowels and hear low voices better. The new aids were more comfortable to wear and no batteries needed...Otherwise not remarkably different from my NHS ones.

Any thoughts? Private hearing aids costing a good few thousand pounds including check ups and ear wax removal. But they are slightly better. I told them I'd decide next Spring whether to buy them or not.

The hearing test was free and much more detailed than NHS. This was a good experience and I would recommend it. It involved three tests- a speech recognition test, a speech in background noise test as well as the traditional test.

...Trying to decide...is it worth it to hear my voice better, hear 'th' sounds...I still struggle with 's' and 'b' consonants - the new aids were the same as NHS with those sounds due to my inner ear problems.

Appreciate ur views/experience.

[Dodie117]

I have wrestled with this too. I would like to have Bluetooth connectivity aids but always balk at the price. So far sticking with NHS ones. Good luck with your decision making 🍀

[Hidden in reply to Dodie117]

Totally. If only they were half the price. 👍

[alpacagirl in reply to Dodie117]

I have Bluetooth aids on NHS although they don’t connect directly like private aids, I had to buy a streamer which wasn’t cheap but totally worth it with my severe hearing loss. I have to wear it round my neck which isn’t great but I can put it under my clothes. My dad has the latest top of the range private aids which he just taps to connect to his phone - they are brilliant but cost an arm and a leg😂

[Dodie117]

Yes, I use a loop which is £40 from Amazon. That works quite well. Recently some one told me that over the ears headphones work so I just bought some and they are great. No loop round my neck and they even have a mic somewhere so phone can be on the table or elsewhere and you can carry on a conversation walking around. No need to speak into it. You could get whistling so need to get ones to suit you but mine are great. About £35. Amazon again!!

[alpacagirl in reply to Dodie117]

I didn’t know you could use headphones with hearing aids like that Dodie - do you mean the large headphones which cover your whole ear and are they wireless? I wish I had heard this before!

[Dodie117 in reply to alpacagirl]

Yes. As I said, might not suit you but worth trying. I’ll pm you the ones I got.

[MarkS]

I moved from NHS to private - the Oticon S1 aids. I think there has been a great improvement in clarity and I can change the settings on my mobile by bluetooth to e.g. listen to people in noise (e.g. a pub), listen to music, listen to a lecturer (picks up depending on what direction your head is pointing) plus increasing or decreasing volume. I think being able to hear speech clearly is protective from dementia.

[Dodie117 in reply to MarkS]

Sounds good. Cost??🤭

[Hidden in reply to Dodie117]

Pair of top range hearing aids at the Hearing Clinic UK were £3,900 for 3yrs (plus tests, care, wax removal) or £5,200 for 5 yrs...top model. Oops just realised u were asking Mark...

[MarkS in reply to Dodie117]

£2,900 for the two aids. That includes a box to transmit directly from the TV and rechargeable aids.

[Hidden in reply to MarkS]

What company is that with, Mark?

[Dodie117 in reply to Hidden]

I’ll stick to my earphones!!😁😢

[MarkS in reply to Hidden]

That's with Listen Hearing Care ltd, listenhearingcare.co.uk/cen... They are an independent. They can also do remote hearing tests - you get the kit through the post and do it yourself, which worked well for me in Covid times.

[Hidden in reply to MarkS]

Thanks. I'll take a look.

[PoppyPati in reply to MarkS]

Hello I’m sorry to bother you as you left your comments a few months ago but I’m new to the group and have only just read them. You mentioned the use of Bluetooth on your mobile for the private aids but not with the NHS ones. My husband has just started using NHS aids which do have all the Bluetooth programmes on his mobile but none of them bring clarity to his hearing and we are just wondering if the private aids would be any better. Unsure what to do as he does already have all the Bluetooth programmes. It’s not easy……

[MarkS in reply to PoppyPati]

That's fine, I'm happy to help. The bluetooth doesn't generally actually improve hearing, it just enables me to select the program which is best for a particular situation. So for a concert I went to on Friday I selected music with a volume about 3 below normal and that was great. I normally set it to "Speech in Noise" with the volume on +1 which enables a more 3D experience so I can focus in on what a particular person is saying in a noisy situation such as a pub. I say "generally" as there are 2 situations where the bluetooth can actually improve hearing: one where I use a box connected to the tv that beams the sound directly to my hearing aids using bluetooth. That does give very clear sound though I tend to use it when just listening to a concert. The 2nd is the right mobile can beam sound direct to the hearing aids. I haven't tried this yet as I have a Samsung Galaxy which it does not work with, but I will be getting an iPhone, which will connect. No doubt there are other gadgets which can also connect.

I had NHS aids for 2 years and they were good for getting me used to wearing them. Generally the NHS aids are old middle of the range models from the manufacturers and if you go private you do get the latest model.

My hearing aid technician can log in remotely to my hearing aids via a phone app and adjust the settings, so it might be worth seeing whether you can do that.

Hearing aids are not nearly as effective as, say, glasses, which can restore sight to 100%+ of what it was.

[PoppyPati in reply to MarkS]

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply it’s always helpful to gather information to try and find the best approaches and I thank you again for that. We will get in touch with our aid technician as suggested.

[Hidden]

Very good points. Didn't know that about dementia. Thanks.

[CamMitch]

I got used to Phonak as they’re good for me. I’m afraid of changing them as the new one could be not so cool and it’ll be just a waste of money. My doctor suggested Bluetooth aids too. I visited this online store audiologyisland.com/online-... and found something for me but I’m not sure.