OTC hearing aid ads

@cleimer101 said:

I would be astonished if this was any more than marketing hype. Adjust volume, sure. Maybe equalizers or something else that’s easy and cheap to build in

Um yeah well you’ll be astonished then, cheap yes, so that’s the point of OTC right, they need to be cheaper (which they are) so more people can buy into the system of hearing better.

@cleimer101 said:

Maybe equalizers or something else that’s easy and cheap to build in

No maybe, this is what is offered, again “cheap” is critical to getting people to use HAs, it’s one of the main points of OTC, now being cheap doesn’t mean “rubbish” (those models you were talking about I’m sure are just that, there’s no OTC hearing aids available for $20 or $89!)

@cleimer101 said:

But our expensive, prescribed hearing aids will let you adjust what? My Philips, the app is pretty useless.

I disagree, the thing is that your offered a 3 band equaliser and noise reduction, I’m not sure if the Phillips offers microphone direction, but others do which is very handy indeed, control of streaming as well.

@cleimer101 said:

Unless we go the Noahlink Wireless and software the audiologists use, we can’t even adjust ours to our liking.

Yep that’s right, but nothing stopping you from doing DIY, if your not happy with your clinics set up, why not try it, it’s not hard, it’ll give you more insight into what your talking about.
And if you want to actually try some OTC there’s a number of them available, some have already been talked about here on hearingtracker, the first was the Bose SoundControl released 2020, it got some good reviews from people using them, Bose have partnered with Lexie, self fitting as well.

https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/earbuds/soundcontrol-hearing-aids.html8

From Sony (rebranded Signia)

Sony Self-Fitting OTC Hearing Aids | CREE102

Find everyday balance with the CRE-E10, Sony’s Self-Fitting Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids that blend comfort, technology and a rechargeable battery to reconnect you to what matters most.

@tenkan said:

it’s one of the main points of OTC, now being cheap doesn’t mean “rubbish” (those models you were talking about I’m sure are just that, there’s no OTC hearing aids available for $20 or $89!)

I don’t know who it was that posted about hearing aids at this price range, but it wasn’t me. OTC’s I’ve seen on the CVS website (a national drug store chain in the U.S.) run from about $200 to $1,000. And yes, agree–less costly is important. But it’s a matter of whether what’s in the less costly models actually help or are window dressing.

How do you try out OTC aids? I’d certainly give some a test, but not by paying for multiple brands like you have to do with our prescription aids. (They won’t work for my hearing, but I’d seriously like to know how they do work). BTW, the Bose you linked to is already defunct according to that page.

@cleimer101 said:

BTW, the Bose you linked to is already defunct according to that page.

The Bose Sound Control hearing aids were out before the OTC started. They withdrew them and partnered with Lexie for two new models. Supposedly they have Bose technology incorporated, as they are marketed as “Powered by Bose.” Hope this clears up the matter for you.

WH

Thx. Just out of curiosity, were they prescription-based pre-OTC or how did they sell them? An audiologist I went to a year ago said Bose tried getting into the hearing aid market but backed out after their attempt–finding it too complex. Looks like that’s maybe only partially true.

No prescription needed, they were the very first OTC, you could buy them straight off the shelf.
The reason they stopped was because they went into negotiation to partner up with Lexie.

@cleimer101 said:

I don’t know who it was that posted about hearing aids at this price range, but it wasn’t me

Yes sorry, it was another poster.

I’m surprised not more talk of Jabra. With their decent aids (formally Lively), reasonable prices, online support, and 100 day trial period they seem worthy of consideration.

No argument that people need to educate themselves. But that’s true about almost any purchase. Too many people buy cars based on what the salesman says because they’re too lazy to do the research themselves. I’m sure the same will be true about otc aids

Yeah definitely, Jabra being in deep with GN ReSound is something that is going to help with sales. But as another poster mentioned they are on the high side with prices, these have got to under 1k for the masses.

First update on my beginning to explore how OTC aids are being sold and how they’re actually working in practice. Went to a local CVS store today (a huge drug store chain in the U.S.). Asked at the pharmacy to talk with someone about the OTC aids they sell. They knew nothing about it except they don’t have any in the store. (Just an aside, I noticed they do sell earbuds.)

I talked to the store manager who said CVS hasn’t worked everything out yet since this is so new so for now you just have to buy them online. I asked him if there’s someone online I can talk to about the options they offer. He didn’t know. So I asked, how would I decide. He said, just pick a pair, buy 'em and try 'em.

I haven’t gone to their site yet to follow-up on my questions but I wanted to post this primarily because I found his buy em and try em response amusing. I’ll have to check their return policy to see if that’s a workable way to go.

@1Bluejay said:

Ah, to get first edit on these marketing claims and positioning ploys. I’d set 'em straight before they go public with these statements.

Well, marketing is all about pith, analogy, emotion, whatever will catch attention in this attention-sapped world. While looking into OTC aids on the CVS site, I took their hearing test–which is focused on speech-in-noise. And that’s what their marketing is based on remedying. After you take the test, the screen below comes up–hear what the world sounds like with and without aids. At first I thought, oh, that’s kinda cool. Then I thought about it for a moment and realized, all they did was play a recording of sentences spoken with staticy background noise (what you hear without aids) and a recording without background noise (the clear speech you hear with aids). OTC’s have found the holy grail I guess. Or maybe hearing aids really do help in noise when you only have mild loss. Hearing professionals on the forum @Neville @Um_bongo @Zebras, is that the case?

I’ll go ahead and report here though, as part of my looking into this, I thought the hearing test was BS. Listening to a set of 3 numbers in staticy background noise and clicking on what I heard to determine how well I hear. It never seemed to me like the background noise was changing in volume or type and I thought I’d got most of the number sequences correct. But, the test came up telling me I have considerable hearing loss and should see a hearing professional. So, whatever it’s doing, it got me.

I could still buy the aids though if I chose. Which is one of the purposes of OTC.

Some OTC HAs I investigated recently out of curiosity work with a smartphone app to test your hearing across a number of frequencies and will apply an automatic prescription accordingly. In effect, then, you get results akin to a lazy audiologist using the automatic settings on “real” HAs (but with a couple of generations-old HA technology), and with amplification that doesn’t reach legit prescriptive targets, likely because A) people find it uncomfortable and might return the devices and B) this reduces risk of hearing damage if there are any errors in the “self-fitting” process.

The results from such a product will likely benefit many mild/moderate losses, which is clearly why the category was approved.

Being in Canada, this is only trivia for me at the moment…. but if I don’t have the money for “real” HAs next time I need them I just might consider trying whatever the “best” of the OTCs end up being. Likely one of the brands that are actually 5-year old “real” HAs under a different name.

@greg.smith said:

and with amplification that doesn’t reach legit prescriptive targets,

I don’t think I understand what you mean here. Why would you think it doesn’t meet prescriptive targets? If the app is essentially creating an audiogram that the aids will then match, wouldn’t that be considered meeting prescriptive target?

Did you actually test this set of aids? I’m asking because I’m kind of wondering how I might do that. Not going to buy them just for review testing.

I don’t just think this, I have considered the results of Real Ear Measurement of such devices. Check out Dr Cliff’s videos for an example of this:

Relevant portion is at about 8m10s.

A consistent finding when testing OTC HAs (and their predecessor devices) is insufficient amplification relative to the prescriptive targets you would expect from an audiologist. If you crank them to maximum volume they can get close or reach targets in certain frequencies. But generally they don’t get there.