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Confused and frustrated. Mild high frequency loss

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This is kind of a long story but here it goes.

My hearing has been getting worse over the years. I frequently need people to repeat. Especially my wife and kids. In noisy environments or gets really tough to tell what people are saying. I finally got to the point that I caved on and setup a hearing appointment. I walked into their office knowing nothing about hearing loss or correction. After all the testing they recommended one Oticon Jet PX. Cost is about $4000 for one . This includes 4 year warranty and free replacement if lost.

When i got home I started doing research and got more and more upset. It appears the markup on this HA was incredible! Especially for a budget baseline product.
Lucky for me there is a 30 day trial. I can return it and get my money back.

I learned about costco HA and figured that would be a much better option. This morning I called them and they had an appt avaliable. I went on and got tested. The lady informed me that my hearing is great and she would not recommend hearing aids. Infact she was worried about malpractice if she did prescribe HA. In the 3 days that I have had a HA I have noticed marked improvement with hearing and understanding. I even officiated a noisy swim meet and was pretty impressed with the improved clarity. I explained all this to the lady but she wouldn’t budge from her position. She did say that perhaps her boss could approve it and to try the one I have off and on and call her in a couple of days so she can talk to her boss about it.
I would love some opinions from you knowledgeable folks on this.
Thanks in advance!

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Yeah, you’re in a funny gray zone. I can absolutely understand why this might happen. There are a lot of clinicians who wouldn’t recommend a hearing aid for someone who only has loss above 2 kHz and historically benefit was unlikely or very marginal. However, hearing aids have gotten a lot better and more people with that sort of hearing loss are seeing improvements, and more clinicians are starting to offer devices if patients are coming in reporting functional difficulties (a lot of people who are normal out to 2 kHz really don’t notice their hearing loss at all). If you’re in america and seeing an at Costco, they are going to be less likely to fit that sort of loss.

Have you seen an by the way? You should with that sort of asymmetry, it is not typical and medical concerns should be ruled out.

$4000 for one budget hearing aid does seem out of the ordinary. See if you can go see a third provider. Maybe a different private audiologist.

But see an ENT first if you haven’t. No point in getting a hearing aid at this point if that ear might actually need surgery.

I would start by trying a different Costco if one is available. If that does not work out and you are in the US, check out the ZipHearing web site. That will give you a good reference as to the lowest prices available. They have a network of local US audiologists where you can get aids at the discounted price if you desire.

Thank you all for your helpful advice.
As a follow up, I called the lady back to plead my case. She informed me that she had spoken with the audiologist and he let her know that even though my hearing is not terrible, the imbalance between sides could cause some issues. If a hearing aid helps with that then she should give me one. She gave me the option of transferring to a store close to me. I have a consultation scheduled for next week. I also have an appt with an scheduled out a few weeks that I’m considering canceling. This hearing loss is not sudden. It’s been progressive. I had a hearing test for work about 4 years ago that shows it. It’s just progressed enough that I could use a little help.

Thanks again for your opinions and advice.

In reply to @SparkT

Yes, please do not cancel the appointment. Acoustic neuroma is very rare, but certainly needs to be caught if it’s there. There are some other medical concerns regarding asymmetries that need to be checked. Just go to the ENT and get the all clear and then you can move forward with the hearing aid trial.

Relevant to a completely different post, but another thing I like about socialized medicine is that no one ever skips seeing the specialist (cuz it’s free).

If you feel it is helping you in some situations, I say, use it in those situations. I am a teacher and I know it helps me to wear a hearing aid on my bad side when I am doing my job. However, I still am not a full time hearing aid user. In many situations I am fine. Also, last time I got a hearing aid (I can get them covered by insurance every few years), I got , because I have been self conscious. But there’s not much control over volume, the batteries are annoying, and the good hearing also has to go through the device. I am now thinking of trying an mini in my bad ear. I can get a matching one for my good side, too, although I don’t plan to wear it as much…we’ll see how it goes. For me it is a journey. I have had a bad ear since I was little, and back then there was no hearing aid for my type of loss. There are plently of people who will prescribe something for you…so if someone refuses, just look for someone else, or go through online. The price seems way too much for one . You could definitely get a very good quality one for a lot less money somewhere else.

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