The time has come for a hearing aid

[mjptexas]

So far, the only advantage I've realized from getting older is being able to retire.

My ENT says it's time for hearing aids - he says that not doing so will lead to further (and rapid) deterioration of my hearing.

So what's the experience of this group with hearing aids?  I assume some of you may wear them when you ride.

Thanks,

[dguzzi]

Not when riding...ear plugs then.
 I have been trying the Eargo, not bad, can't see them unless you are an ear peeker.

[StuCorpe]

I have had to use hearing aids for quite a few years now (I'm on my 3rd set and just about ready to go to my 4th set).  Your hearing doesn't usually get better just progressively worse.  The best value on hearing aids today is the Kirkland 8 at Costco.  You can get a pair of these (setup by an audiologist) for about $1,700, most other places for equivalent performance will cost $5,000 to $7,000.  It is worth the $60 membership fee (for 1 year) just to get the hearing aids.

[StuCorpe]

Oh yes, dguzzi is right, earplugs while riding but keep your aids with you so you can hear and understand people when you stop.

[Red]

Sorry to learn about your hearing loss.

I have found it is not engine noise that make you tired and ruins your hearing, it is the wind. I use disposable foam ear plugs from CVS; cuts out the high frequency noise. And I can hear people talk.

You might want to try them to preserve what you have left when you ride.

[Ncdan]

This timing is perfect as I’m in the same situation, I’m tired of being told to turn the TV down and asking people to repeat what they said. The Cosco think sounds promising. Since on the subject of hearing aids, does anyone else think that “ I love you Dad” commercial is a little weird or maybe even in the sick side?🤮

[Siamese]

Maybe you just need louder pipes? 

Nah.

Sorry about the hearing loss.  This stuff just keeps happening.  Ask me how I know. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yeah, I've been wearing hearing aids for years. Too many years of industrial noise, motorcycles, flying, rock music, etc. has taken it's toll. I have a medical condition called "deaf as a post." 
To the OP. Don't under any circumstance continue to ride without ear plugs. Hearing damage is *cumulative.* Save what you have.
The good news:
New hearing aids are wonderful compared to even 10 years ago. There have been many advances in micro electronics. I've tried about all of them, including the high priced spread. (not Guzzi content, $6K and above)
My current aids are Phonak from Costco.  Just as there is a difference between Guzzi mechanics, there is a difference in audiologists. 
Phonak's software works, even if your audiologist isn't Roper. 
Run, do not walk to Costco. For 2K, you can get what a "Doctor" will sell you for 6K. (Guzzi content) 

[trippah]

Back when I was - I was an audiologist.  while it may seem the "buy two" is a sales pitch, it actually is normally a good idea to fit both ears simultaneously (if your hearing is essentially the same binaurally).  2 issues: comparing aided and unaided ears often reduces the maximum benefit and getting accustomed  to the "new sound", and 2ndly, you can get up to a 3 dB increase (improvement) than in the threshold you heard a sound in each ear independently.   
I am getting close to trying them again, did not get much hearing improvement with the last pair.  A lot has to do with slope of your hearing thresholds from low pitch to higher freq's.  The steeper to loss the more difficult it usually is to fit (say 45-55 dB difference in just say 2K -3.5K Hz.).  (Mine is what we called a ski slope loss - not the one you want).
Best of luck, and it may well take a few tweaks to get a final most beneficial setting.

[saxontaylor]

I got the $1700 ish pair from Costco.  The joy of listening to the hifi is back! Fidelity is amazingly good. 

[Dave Swanson]

At my family's constant urging I tried hearing aids this Spring.   I have had a loss since birth I assume, because it was first detected in grade school.  If you split the human hearing range in half;  my lower half was perfect, but my top half was considered a profound loss.

I went through a local hospital because I was wary of hearing aid companies.  I had very professional service with multiple adjustments over the trial period.   The aids were $5000 - I needed them in both ears as my loss is almost identical in both.  The aids had a 30 day trial period where the only risk to me was $100 if I decided against them.

I really gave it the college try.  I wore them all of my waking hours because the audiologist explained that my auditory nerves need to adjust to hearing in a range they were not accustomed to.  The audiologist extended my trial period to 6 weeks to give me a better chance to adapt.

At the end of 6 weeks I knew they weren't for me.   I was looking for improvement in speech recognition, especially the female voice in an environment with background noise.  Even with all the high tech noise cancelling features of the aids I did not experience any improvement in speech recognition that I was hoping for.   

Besides not seeing the benefit I was looking for, my world was full of terribly annoying sounds.  Running the kitchen faucet sounded like standing next to Niagara Falls!  Taking a leak sounded like a 100 cows pissing on a huge flat rock.   Bird chirps were the loudest, shrillest, most annoying thing ever.   I would have put up with the downside if I had seen improvement in understanding speech.  In the end it wasn't worth it to me.  But every hearing loss is different

I did enjoy understanding movies in a quiet theater for the first time.   But if there were more than a few people in the theater munching popcorn it was all ruined.  I could hear loud chewers on the other side of the theater! 

[antmanbee]

My ENT says it's time for hearing aids - he says that not doing so will lead to further (and rapid) deterioration of my hearing.

I don't understand how a hearing aid is going to prevent further rapid hearing loss. Sounds like BS to me.

[pebra]

To the OP. Don't under any circumstance continue to ride without ear plugs. Hearing damage is *cumulative.* Save what you have.

The good news: New hearing aids are wonderful compared to even 10 years ago. There have been many advances in micro electronics.
 
My current aids are Phonak from Costco.  Just as there is a difference between Guzzi mechanics, there is a difference in audiologists. 
Phonak's software works, even if your audiologist isn't Roper. 

Listen to Chuck.

I'm on my 5th set of aids, coincidentally also Phonak (Swiss)  -  the best I've ever had. There have been a few niggles, however.
I normally test different aids for weeks before I choose a set to have for the next 5 - 6 years. When choosing two years ago I might as well have chosen aids from GN Resound (Danish).

A good audiologist is key, however.
What to choose is a question of what sort of hearing loss you have, but also how you like the aids on offer. Good luck!

[LowRyter]

Mike, good luck.  I am hard of hearing, most of my life.

I wear ear plugs when I ride. 

[Dave Swanson]

 I might as well have chosen aids from GN Resound (Danish).

A good audiologist is key, however.
What to choose is a question of what sort of hearing loss you have, but also how you like the aids on offer. Good luck!

The aids I tried were Resound brand.  They were supposed to be top notch, but they didn't improve what I was looking for to be improved which was female speech recognition especially in noisy environments.

[pebra]

I don't understand how a hearing aid is going to prevent further rapid hearing loss. Sounds like BS to me.

I don't know if hearing aids will prevent further hearing loss.
In my experience however, when not wearing them I easily get droning noises in my head, tinnitus-like, maybe. I imagine cancelling out sound brings on that noise.

[Dave Swanson]

I don't understand how a hearing aid is going to prevent further rapid hearing loss. Sounds like BS to me.

I agree.   That sounds like a snake oil sales pitch.  If anything the extra amplification of sounds will hasten deterioration. 

[Gliderjohn]

Jus read about current era of hearing aids. I know I am about there. Concerning how hearing aids defend against future loss, my understanding is that with hearing aids, certain parts of the ear are stimulated again which slows down that deterioration that w/o aids the lack of stimulation would increase the deterioration. Sorry. cannot give a better explanation, but makes sense to me.
GliderJohn

[pebra]

The aids I tried were Resound brand.  They were supposed to be top notch, but they didn't improve what I was looking for to be improved which was female speech recognition especially in noisy environments.

Yeah, improving speech recognition with background noise is probably the single most wanted, but also the most difficult feature to deliver.
It certainly is what I'm missing the most. I believe voice recognition has a long way to go, but think noise cancelling has become much better during the years I have been using hearing aids.     

[Sasquatch Jim]

 I won't wear a radio transmitter in my head.  That's what most modern hearing aids have.  the VA sent me to get one back in 20 12 and it took a week to get the custom fitted hearing aid.  I took two visits for them to tune it for me.
 on the way home I reached up to turn the volume down on the one in the right ear.  this caused the volume to lower in the left one too.  I adjusted it back up and the left one followed suit.  I went back to ask why it did this.  They told me that the two communicated with each other by radio.  I complained that they could have told me that before all the work had been done.  I gave them back their 6,000 dollar hearing aid and left.  I don't want any radio inside my head, transmitter or receiver.  I have done without a hearing aid since no one seems to make one that doesn't use radio.

[mjptexas]

Yeah, I've been wearing hearing aids for years. Too many years of industrial noise, motorcycles, flying, rock music, etc. has taken it's toll. I have a medical condition called "deaf as a post." 
To the OP. Don't under any circumstance continue to ride without ear plugs. Hearing damage is *cumulative.* Save what you have.

Chuck, I usually wear earplugs - if I don't forget to put them in!

[John Croucher]

Bose ear buds are less than $200 a set. 

I cannot get a grasp on the extremely high price on hearing aids with today's low cost technology available to the masses.

I do my best to protect what little hearing I have left.  It is annoying to no hear clearly and the continuous ringing.  Loud music and working in the machine/welding shop environment from an early age has destroyed my hearing. 

Teach your children/grand children well. Make them take hearing seriously. 

[mjptexas]

I don't understand how a hearing aid is going to prevent further rapid hearing loss. Sounds like BS to me.

Here is how it was explained to me (as I recall - remember, I don't hear so good): After a certain point of loss your brain will not relearn to interpret the sounds, so IF I don't correct now I run the risk of not being able to satisfactorily correct my hearing at a future date, as my hearing will continue to deteriorate.

[antmanbee]

Here is how it was explained to me (as I recall - remember, I don't hear so good): After a certain point of loss your brain will not relearn to interpret the sounds, so IF I don't correct now I run the risk of not being able to satisfactorily correct my hearing at a future date, as my hearing will continue to deteriorate.

That makes sense. Glad there was an explanation as to why for you. I'm a skeptic! I always do the research and do the math. Frequently things don't add up.

[Chuck in Indiana]

The aids I tried were Resound brand.  They were supposed to be top notch, but they didn't improve what I was looking for to be improved which was female speech recognition especially in noisy environments.

It takes time. That's all I can say.  It takes time for your brain to recognize it is hearing these sounds again, too. For a long time, *for me* many sounds were almost painful. Certainly aggravating. I'm talking months here, not days..
Is it like normal hearing? No.
But.
I can now understand Nora, the Kid's sweetie. For years, she was like the school teacher in Charlie Brown. 
Dorcia, of course is "selective" hearing, like all guy's wives. 
I have been blessed/cursed with perfect pitch. For several years, I couldn't listen to music. I had the guy make a channel for music on my old hearing aids. It was..er.. ok. The Phonaks are pretty darn good. (!) I practically never change channels any more. Some of that may be just getting used to them, too. I've had them for 3 or 4 years now.
All this is to say that I wouldn't be without them. I can generally engage in conversations and understand what is going on. That certainly beats smiling and nodding..

[severely]

I appreciate the feedback here as I'm a candidate for hearing aids. I also suffer tinnitus, have had the audiology check, just don't know if it's worth it or not. I know for a fact NOT hearing well has kept me out of several fistfights and disagreements with the wife. Having to remove/insert hearing aids with helmet removal/installation is a major drawback. I've observed there are aids with Bluetooth that interest me but having to remove them when putting on a helmet removes the reason for wearing them. I suppose I'll take my deaf butt for a ride and think it over.

[Chuck in Indiana]

I appreciate the feedback here as I'm a candidate for hearing aids. I also suffer tinnitus, have had the audiology check, just don't know if it's worth it or not. I know for a fact NOT hearing well has kept me out of several fistfights and disagreements with the wife. Having to remove/insert hearing aids with helmet removal/installation is a major drawback. I've observed there are aids with Bluetooth that interest me but having to remove them when putting on a helmet removes the reason for wearing them. I suppose I'll take my deaf butt for a ride and think it over.

Don't wear your hearing aids on the bike. You'll just be amplifying the sounds that made you deaf in the first place. As someone else mentioned above, Wear Ear Plugs when riding, take them out and put in your aids afterward.  This isn't rocket science, folks..

[Lannis]

Don't wear your hearing aids on the bike. You'll just be amplifying the sounds that made you deaf in the first place. As someone else mentioned above, Wear Ear Plugs when riding, take them out and put in your aids afterward.  This isn't rocket science, folks..

I always wear my custom-molded ear plugs on the bike, but I lost my second (and last) set on the 5-day trip I just got back from.   They're corded together, so like an idiot I took them out at a gas stop and left them dangling around my neck, then forgot to put them back in and now they're laying on US460 near Narrows, VA somewhere.

My new Nolan helmet has ear-pads that (according to the manual) are designed to cut down noise, but nothing beats the in-canal protection, so I need to go back to the audiologist and get some more.

I'm glad to hear all the guys discussing hearing aids.   Amazingly, many people will not get them out of Vanity, because they think it declares that they're "old" now.   I don't know how attractive they think it is to always be cupping your hand behind your ear and saying "Eh?  Eh?  What's that you say, sonny?", but they won't get hearing aids ...  You can't even see many of the new ones, and you can control them via Bluetooth from a smartphone ...

Lannis

[NWrider]

For those that don't understand why hearing aids can delay further hearing loss, read the current issue of Consumer Reports.  It's a good primmer for those of us who've just reached the point of needing them.   I'm getting fitted in 2 weeks. My brother's been wearing them for almost 10 years now and was probably smart for getting them before his hearing loss became too severe.

[Lannis]

Don't wear your hearing aids on the bike. You'll just be amplifying the sounds that made you deaf in the first place. As someone else mentioned above, Wear Ear Plugs when riding, take them out and put in your aids afterward.  This isn't rocket science, folks..

I was talking to a rider the other week who wears hearing aids in both ears.    He can control the volume level, tone, etc with an app on his phone.

He tells me that when he cranks up the bike, he just punches "Off" using his phone to turn off the hearing aids and they turn into ear plugs ... when he's done, he turns them back on and they're hearing aids again.

That should work, shouldn't it?

Lannis