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Debating hearing aids, OTC hearing aids, or just muddle through

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My hearing loss isn’t too bad. I have to ask folks to repeat things, have my husband translate at parties, and remind my kids to face me when they speak to me. I tried costco hearing aids years ago and they were so loud and intolerable - also the costco person wasn’t able to program for my hearing loss profile exactly. I’m revisiting this now and wondering if technology has gotten better and if hearing aids might work for me. Thoughts?

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Additionally, it’s possible hearing aids may be covered by my insurance. If so, do you have specific recommendations for me?

Technology has improved. My leanings would be for prescription hearing aids over because with the OTC you’re on your own for supplies and service. I’d suggest trying Costco again. Regarding insurance. It would depend on your specific insurance plan. Most insurance isn’t very good as it serves largely to pressure sellers to lower their price which tends to lower the level of service. If you do try Costco again, be sure and tell them about your previous experience. I have the feeling that you’re going to take awhile to accommodate to having anywhere near adequate gain since you’ve gone untreated for quite some time. If prescription aids are unsatisfactory you could try OTC but I think all it would end up accomplishing is making sounds a little louder, but unlikely to help much with speech.

You have a non-typical type of hearing loss that might be more difficult to fit. This alone can be a challenge for the audiologist.

The Phillips hearing aids at Costco might be a better choice for that loss.

@OcramSagev said:

Why is Philips considered the best option for the OP’s hearing loss?

From reading this forum.

We have a few knowledge members with similar hearing losses that have had good luck with the Phillips aids.

One of our pros here on the forum has stated Oticon is more favorable for reverse slope hearing losses and Phillips has very much the same hardware and close software to Oticon. Both made by Demant.

Any can “handle” reverse slope, nothing special with Oticon, always good idea to trial before making your decision on which is “best” for you.

@tenkan said:

Any HAs can “handle” reverse slope, nothing special with Oticon,

Not according to one of our pros here. He explained it well a year or so ago.

We also have a member who tried different aids and ended liking the Phillips. This member is more knowledgeable about aids than either of us. You probably know who I am talking about

With all due respect , when claims like this are made, I like to see the sources of the information . Otherwise I just don’t believe them. As an engineer , I’m am all about hard facts.

Maybe I’m like Judge Judy: hearsay is not admissible in my court .

So I agree with @tenkan on this one: Everyone should try more than one brand and choose their preferred one.

I started at Costco and the techs were quite good and the price was right. When my hearing loss became more complex, not so much.
I moved on to a very good audiologist who gave me a better fit. Had to get unlocked aids. To save a little money, I bought my aids on eBay and she was fine with that.

Sounds like you need a really good audiologist at this point.

If you are here asking for advice you already know it’s time to get that hearing test updated. Go from there and there is no drawback from using Costco so long as you get a good fitter. Same rule applies to an audiologist except for the higher cost. I’ve had good luck with both.

Reverse slope with cookie bite-ish.

Most of the people on here won’t have experience of this kind of hearing loss: most of the hearing aids on the market won’t fit this loss well without throwing out the fitting prescription and working from scratch. Also, fit verification like is necessary, but you’ve got to go somewhere where they have enough experience to ignore the REM result and include (like 60-70%) of your preference for loudness/background noise management.

Try Oticon Zeals (if your ears are big enough); plugged with double domes or a custom tip.

Most set-ups won’t be acoustically suitable from the usual initial fit but again, appropriate tips/venting are going to be key.

I’d try you on a Zeal here, possibly followed by a custom if your ears preferred the fit.

Edited

Hi there, I believe my hearing loss is somewhat similar to yours, though mine is more severe. I’ve been using Philips 9050 hearing aids, and they’ve been pretty good. Over the years, I’ve had three pairs of hearing aids from Costco, and the Philips 9050 with power domes is my favorite so far. In the store this time, I tried Philips 9050, Rexton Reach and the older Jabra model (20 IIRC) for about 15 minutes each. I thought I could hear well with both Rexton and Philips, but Rexton sounded almost too harsh. I ultimately chose Philips because it sounded the best to me, and my decision wasn’t based on anything scientific.

Of course, hearing aids aren’t perfect. I occasionally have trouble catching everything in noisy situations such as group socializing situations, but it’s not a huge issue for me. I also run into some hearing difficulties at work because it’s so noisy. There are all sorts of machine noises, lots of conversations happening at once, people talking to me from different angles, and I’m stuck using those old landline business phones that haven’t been updated in almost 30 years. I honestly don’t think any hearing aids would really help me out at my work! Most of my coworkers know about my hearing loss and are always there to help me when I need it. That said, Philips are definitely an upgrade compared to my KS9 even in those situations.

I do have Apple AirPods Pro2, which are handy when I need them, but they’re definitely not as good as my hearing aids. I can hear, but the sound is so echo-y that I can’t imagine wearing them instead of my hearing aids full time. That said, AirPods are definitely better for streaming music from my phone.

Even though Costco isn’t a covered provider by my insurance, I filled out all the paperwork and got more than half the cost reimbursed. I recommend checking with your insurance to see if they cover it and what paperwork you need to submit. I did that, and my insurance wanted diagnostic codes and their NPI number. Costco gave me those details when I asked, and I got reimbursed by the insurance company in less than two weeks.

I’m not saying Costco is the best choice for your hearing loss, and I think you should explore all options available, both Costco and non-Costco. But I just wanted to share my experience with Costco hearing aids with my reverse-slope hearing loss. Best of luck!

In reply to @Um_bongo

Would you please explain what a reverse slope is and peek at my to see, in your opinion, if it’s something my fitters missed. I’ve had hearing aids now for just over 20 years, upgrading to new ones every 3 years. Thank you very much.

In reply to @fitzie63

Reverse slope is worse in low frequencies and better in high frequencies. Oh on the from left to right it is “uphill.” Most people, as well as fitting protocols, are the opposite, or downhill.

You have a flat loss on the left and a traditional slope in the right.

The severity of your loss overall may present difficulty as your inner and outer hair cells are likely damaged in both ears, limiting fidelity to the cochlea.

Thank you for taking time to reply. No one, in the last 20 years has explained it in those precise terms. My biggest struggle is the huge speech recognition loss. Am hoping that either the Jabra 30 or Phillips 9050 with A I might help.

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