My Hearing Aids 2.0 Journey

I got my first hearing aids in 2021, and, to be honest, I didn’t do much research back then. At the time, I was struggling emotionally and frustrated by my hearing problems, which also included hyperacusis and tinnitus.

My super-supportive wife encouraged me to seek help, which was difficult for me to do because seeking help takes time from other stressors that were consuming all my time.

However, not being able to understand voices while on a video call (crucial to my work) and not being able tolerate loud noises eventually overcame my resistance to seeking help.

Quick humorous side note on my first audiogram, pre COVID-19. The technician who was trying to attach a spring-loaded measuring device to my head snapped the spring painfully into my forehead. Ouch! I said. She said sorry. Then, because she didn’t have it adjusted properly, she then snapped it into my forehead a second time. Ouch! The audiogram was eventually collected without too much additional pain.

So this was just before the COVID-19 lockdown. I was unable to set up my hearing device consultation until lockdown was lifted. I ended up switching providers and having to get a new audiogram. Nothing snapped against my forehead this time.

Quick note on hyperacusis: This very annoying condition made me painfully realize how loud the world is. I could not tolerate to be anywhere near a poorly-tuned weed whacker (with a clattering engine). A large truck with squealing brakes made me cringe, or worse, the HSSSPH! sound of an air brake system venting made me shirk away. Also: a car’s tires rolling on a rainy-wet road: no good. To me this condition was worse than any hearing loss I might have. You encounter loud noises all the time.

(Spoiler: the hearing aids helped with the hyperacusis, but I still don’t seek out weed whackers)

So anyway, my new audiologist set me up with a set of Oticon More 2 hearing aids. I paid for these up front without asking too many questions. There were some snafus with them submitting a claim to insurance and me getting reimbursed, but eventually the financial side worked out. I don’t remember the exact cost or how much insurance covered, but it was expensive, for sure.

It took a bit of time to adjust to the hearing aids, but I eventually did. I went back for a follow up, and some settings were tweaked. Much later I went back to have a battery replaced, and the staff had turned over at the office, but they also informed me that I wasn’t running my “full correction”. So we did that as “Program 2” and left the original as “Program 1”. I was a little miffed at the communication here. Had I known I wasn’t running the “full correction.” I would have sought to get there sooner.

I’ve replaced batteries once or twice in each hearing aid. I liked the replaceable rechargeable batteries, and replacing them was covered in the service contract, but they seem difficult to find now.

I struggle with wind noise. In certain situations when I’m out walking my dog, the breeze will flow over the hearing aids to create a static-sounding noise. It’s super annoying. At one point I’d rigged up an IFTTT routine so I could tap my watch to mute the hearing aids. It seems like Oticon and IFTTT had a falling out, and the new companion app doesn’t support this. I saw some advice on the forum to use “ear gear” covers. I’m planning to check these out.

So my Oticon More 2 hearing aids are now several years old. One of them doesn’t hold the charge all day, and batteries are hard to find, so I’m starting to think about upgrading: Hearing Aids 2.0.

I have an appointment for a hearing test this Friday (hoping for no springs snapping against my forehead), and I’ve been researching (with help from this forum, thank you very much!) my options.

These are the top options in my mind.

Get replacement batteries for my Oticon More 2s, if possible.

Evaluate new Oticon Intent hearing aids. For this I want to understand the costs up front. This industry doesn’t seem too transparent about knowing the costs before committing (feels dishonest). The Intent 1 seems like it might be overkill for me, and the Intent 2 seems like a slight step up from my current More 2.

I also looked at the Phonak Audéo Sphere Infinio (what a mouthful!), but the battery life doesn’t seem to be as good, and they seem a bit bulkier (from the reviews).

So we’ll see.

Thanks for reading this far. I appreciate being able to share this experience with the fine folks on this forum. I’ve already benefitted from your advice. Hopefully someone else will find this topic useful.

That price is insane !
The audiologist I saw in Jan had the Phonak infinio i50 for $3000 something (equivalent to the Intent 3).

Yep. Taking my time and understanding as much as possible before plopping down a big chunk of change. I didn’t do that last time, and although I like my More 2s, I probably paid too much for them back in 2021.

Well my insurance didn’t take long to approve my hearing aids once the audiologist submitted the claim. About two weeks after I called them (after 60 days of nothing), I have a pair of new, blue Oticon Intent 1s. The audiologist was able to submit the claim such that my co-pay was zero. What a huge difference from my previous audiologist, quite a bit less than the $7k+ my previous audiologist was asking, and better than out-of-network ZipHearing and Costco. I suspect I’ll end up at Costco for my next set (likely after I retire).

My old Oticon More 2 used open bass domes. The new HIS recommended tulip domes saying that they should keep more sound in and avoid the occlusion issues of the vented domes I had tried and didn’t like. So far so good.

These new hearing aids seem “hotter” than my old ones. I’m hearing every chair squeak, and keyboard key clack quite well. I mentioned this to the HIS, and he suggested that maybe the receivers in my old aids were degrading. Is that a thing? I change the wax filters quarterly and keep them clean, so I wouldn’t think it’s a wax blockage difference.

Anyway, the HIS also mentioned to try it for awhile and turn down the volume a step or two it it becomes overwhelming. So I’m trying it. Check in in one month.

I’d noticed that my tinnitus had been increasing with my old hearing aids. It’s almost gone again with the new ones. I had a similar experience when my old aids were new. This makes me more curious if my receivers were degrading. Does that happen?