Hearing aids.

I would like to persuade an elderly female relative to try a hearing aid.

Are either of these likely to be any use:

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or

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There is an enormous price range for hearing aids. The more expensive ones are moulded to your ear and can be programmed to match a persons hearing defects.

Is there something much better than the above which would be worth trying?

Reply to
Michael Chare
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DOn't bother with Ebay.

Get your relative down to the GP and ask for a referral to Audiology and/or ENT.

Under the Modernisation of Hearing Aid Services (MHAS) programme, they will test the relative's hearing on an audiometer, select a hearing aid, program it up with her specific hearing loss, use a universal mould fitting and she will go home the same day with a new pair of hearing aids.

It will be free and it will be adjusted to accommodate her specific hearing loss.

How do I know all this? I was born profoundly deaf and am now 42 years old.... I have seen how much audiology has changed over the years.

Reply to
Stephen

A lot of shysters around. Get her referred by her GP to the local audiology service. The NHS ones are quite good these days.

Reply to
Peter Crosland

+1

The biggest hurdle will be getting elderly relative to admit that they *may* have a problem and that *perhaps* a visit to the GP and referral would be a good thing to do.

The latter is very important, every ear is different even on the same person...

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

I wouldn't buy anything for a trial. There are commercial hearing centres which will carry out a basic hearing test and program sample hearing aids (possibly more than one model) for your relative to try. There's no obligation to buy, so if she likes the result the next step is to go to her GP and arrange an NHS test. If needed, they will supply very discrete, modern, programmable hearing aids (and free batteries).

Some commercial suppliers occasionally run public demonstrations, usually in hotels. They advertise in local papers, so it might also be worth keeping an eye out for that.

Reply to
Bert Coules

That's why I mentioned the commercial testers. Quite apart from the reluctance to admit that there is a problem, many elderly folk have an extreme dislike for "bothering the doctor unnecessarily": an anonymous visit to a hearing aid demonstration might be an easier sell.

Reply to
Bert Coules

A bad experience with an Ebay one might put her off getting proper professional help.

Owain

Reply to
spuorgelgoog

The problem is mobility. My relative is in a nursing home. Logically I ought to be able to persuade her GP to make the necessary referral, but am I likely to be able to get an Audiology specialist to make a visit? Can they take whatever equipment they need with them?

Reply to
Michael Chare

a bit better than they were some 10 years ago whe I was told (with a 60dB knotch at 4.5kHz in both ears) "there is nothing the NHS can do for you. Just cup your hand behind your ear."

Reply to
charles

The biggest hurdle will be getting her to wear the bloody thing once she has got it.

All the people I have knows who got hearing aids (quite a few paid big money) rarely if ever use(d) them.

Usually they are quite happy not hearing stuff because loss of hearing has been a gradual process which they have adapted to.

Putting the hearing aid in, adjusting it so it doesn't whistle but they can still hear, remembering to change batteries....after a while they get fed up or just forget.

The driver for getting a hearing aid is usually a relative who is frustrated by the difficulty in communication and/or the volume of the TV.

The person of limited hearing is usually quite laid back about the whole thing.

Best of luck.

Dave R

Reply to
David.WE.Roberts

Agreed! The deaf mother simply turns up the volume on the television. The not-deaf son cannot stand it that loud.

Reply to
polygonum

Don't know where you live:

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NHS supplied hearing aid vastly improved my hearing. Plus side of NHS hearing aid is continual free supply of batteries.

Reply to
Richard

In which case they haven't been properly prescribed. I'm without one in my left esr - because its away being repaired - and the effect is very disorienating.

Modern aids don't have user controls.

I wasn't, just frustrated. I had this watch with a builtin alarm. I could only hear it with my hearing aid in. No use in the morning, since i| don't wear the aids in bed.

Reply to
charles

I know what you mean, but it's not strictly true. Models that can be be programmed with several different response profiles (to accommodate different situations and varying noise levels) have a small button to switch between the various modes.

Reply to
Bert Coules

but the better ones are adaptive and decide for themselves when to switch modes.

Reply to
charles

Yes, but getting one seems to take time, at least in some areas. A couple of years ago an elderly relative of mine found it took about 6 months from GP referral to actually getting a test at the local hospital, and then another month or so before the hearing aid was ready.

But just the other day I got a flyer from Messrs Specsavers saying that they were now approved to do hearing tests and to prescribe hearing aids on the NHS. I don't know how this works, but presumably you just get your GP to refer you to the nearest branch. I assume their service would be much faster. I've tried their eye-testing and specs-prescribing service and can't say that I'm particularly enthusiastic about them, but as a way of avoid a wait of many months it seems worth giving it a go.

As others have said, the second hurdle is getting the elderly person to actually wear the darned thing. That may take a few months, too.

Reply to
Clive Page

And spare parts, like the little plastic tubes. And they get repaired for free. A relative of mine had an NHS pair, they're moulded exactly to their ears and set up individually on a computer to exactly match their needs. Plus the NHS ones work with those loop systems. You won't get any of that buying them off Ebay, any "one size fits all" thing is doomed to fail. These look like nothing more than cheap headphone rubber ear adaptors, I wear those when I listen to music and they can get sore pretty quickly.

Reply to
Mentalguy2k8

To avoid the NHS try the local High St e.g.

Reply to
R.G. Bargy

Phone them and ask. Usually the hospital should arrange transport if needed. It really should not be that difficult.

Reply to
Peter Crosland

A fair point, though I wouldn't necessarily categorise that as "better", though I see that it could be for some users. I prefer to retain control over such things myself.

Reply to
Bert Coules

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