Turns out my friends were right: I can't hear E36 M3.
Today, the audiologist said, mild hearing loss at some frequencies, "moderately severe" at others, recommends hearing aids. They're "only" $8,000, good for all of five years. All fitting/tuning/etc. is included for the duration, and some sort of tinnitus training, too. (Yeah, I have tinnitus, plus hyper-sensitivity to sounds, too.)
I'm in my early 50s; seems kinda soon for this sort of thing, but maybe not.
Been down this road?
What? WHAT? WHAT??!!
Shop around, those $8k hearing aids can be bought for $3500. Hearing aids have come a long way in the last few years. Look for CIC style. Phonak is probably the best out there.
RevRico
UltimaDork
8/16/22 12:22 a.m.
Look for a school nearby doing a study, and get involved. It's helped my mom in the past when dropping $2k+ was out of the question but her hearing aids were messed up or old and dying.
It's a ridiculous racket, similar to glasses, but one I suspect I'll have to deal with for myself sooner rather than later.
Glasses are a pretty good analogy actually. You can get your important testing and info and either get what the place doing your testing has or shop around. I don't think you can buy direct online like eyeglasses, but you might be able to these days as long as you can find somewhere local for the fitting and tuning.
Try as many styles as you can to find something comfortable that works with your lifestyle. Over the ear, in the ear, Bluetooth adjustable or not, there are a lot of options, don't think you're stuck with one specific one, especially if you find them uncomfortable or they have trouble staying on.
A local university may have better aids and staff with more recent training. My first hearing aids were from a trusted friend with a Beltone franchise. I saw her for 10 minutes one day and only saw assistants every visit afterwards. The audio quality was really good in my opinion.
My hearing got worse over time and I was referred by another doc to the local health sciences center at the local university. I've seen an Aud-D every visit and each has been truly impressive. The equipment they use to test my ears and the hearing aid performance is very thorough. At beltone it was "better now?" At the university they keep working with me until I'm happy and show me charts reflecting what I'm hearing in objective tests.
Both experiences have been encouraging and educational. Any hearing aids you get will be a great improvement, more than you expect. If you're ever not satisfied with your doc, shop around. Find the place that makes you feel taken care of.
Hearing aids are not glasses for your ears. Glasses can correct your vision to 20/20. Ears don't work that way. Aids amply sound. All of it. New aids help filter things better than the aids of old, but they are not silver bullets.
I'm (mostly) deaf since birth. I've been without aids for almost 30 years. Because $8,000.
I lost a lot of my hearing in Training for and flying in the Navy and during Vietnam. Then all those years racing with unmuffled motors? Not to mention the tuning of them. Hanging around while other cars and classes race.
I've lost a great deal of my hearing but as others have said $8000
I keep hearing about really cheap hearing aids.
In reply to RevRico :
You can buy direct online now, there's a few places.
Go to Costco. Mom just got her's from there at the recommendation of her audiologist who told her it was the same equipment at a substantially lower price.
I think she paid about $1300 for them instead of the $8k.
What? Huh? What did the OP say? I think it was something about hearing loss. I have struggled with my left ear for 30 years due to a scuba diving incident. In my experience, Tinnitus never goes away and you just get used to it. (I have not experienced silence since I was 20-something.) I have not tried hearing aids because of the cost and because I have one good ear and some hearing in the other. It was an option for me, and I remember that newer models were bluetooth-enabled and you could adjust them through an app, which was pretty cool.
I helped my father get hearing aids however, and IIRC he tried some very basic amplifying devices that helped. Something like this. Based on those, he decided to get "real" ones, but was shopping quite a bit trying to find an affordable option. (Costco, online, etc.) Sadly, we never got to finish that process but I don't recall anything that I would consider "cheap".
My wife has trouble hearing in certain situations, and she uses her Jabra ear buds to filter background noise and amplify voices. They were not cheap at $200, but they work well and can also be used for the normal ear bud stuff like calls and listening to music. Jabra also has their Enhance series of hearing aids, but they are only sold through hearing-aid retailers and I assume they have the added racket pricing tacked on.
Thanks everyone for the advice and links.
I'm not up for the $8k deal, and this morning, my Special Lady Friend sent me this AP News article:
Over-the-counter hearing aids expected this fall in US
Register with the AARP and see if you start getting offers all the time?
Somehow Cleartone, or one of those big names, has confused me with my dad. We live in the same state and share the same name, we don't even live in the same area code. I've been receiving offers for about 3 years now to come for a free hearing test and discount on hearing aids.
I'm 40 and hear just fine. He's about to be 71.
Duke
MegaDork
8/16/22 3:59 p.m.
In reply to z31maniac :
I've been getting mailings from Miracle Ear since I was about 20, thanks to a girlfriend (now wife) with a prankish sense of humor.
Rhetorical questions that I hope were covered during your visit; What frequencies are you experiencing loss, both ears or one ear, does it affect one part of the ear specifically vs the others? Did they talk about why you have hearing loss? Genetic or injury or exposure? How is your blood pressure, are you overweight, high salt intake, do you get dizzy easily?
These are things I hope they take into account before jumping to hearing aids. I also have "moderately severe" loss and tinnitus due to pressure build up within my ear. Hearing aids will help me "hear" but wouldnt really fix the underlying lack of clarity or the tinnitus. I went to another doctor much later than I should have, but I feel they did a more thorough job identifying the problem offered an alternative solution. Believe it or not changing my diet to low salt did help my hearing significantly. Just something to consider before jumping into hearing aids.
What? You mumble!
Sorry, I had to.
Mrs 914's hearing is going south but it's me even though when she asks me to crank up the volume I won't if the doors are open. Neighbors don't need to know what we watch.
So, what was it that made you see the light? (I need batteries)
In reply to TR7 (Forum Supporter) :
He asked good questions and I got printouts from testing. I have very good hearing from low 100s to about 2k Hz, after which it plunges way down until around 8k, then back up. (Useless party trick: I can still hear 16k Hz!) It's both ears, one a bit worse than the other. Not likely genetic or due to health issues.
The loss affects my ability to hear consonants: take? bake? rake?
I will look into no salt. My life also has some really big stressors right now, which could be a factor.
In reply to procainestart :
Cutting out alcohol and caffeine helped my tinnitus immensely.
I decided that I liked coffee more than I liked not hearing a constant EEEEEEEEEEEEE so I backslid a bit...
Subscribing.
My dad lives alone. When he comes over to babysit, the TV is cranked when we return. No one to tell him the TV is too loud. It's time to have a conversation.
Also, I have issues in loud background situations. In a sound booth I test perfect. In noisy areas I have a hard time following conversations. In really loud environments I get pain in my left ear and it can sound like a blown speaker. Ive been to a couple docs who seem to brush it off since I test perfect. If I hold my phone up to each ear, the loudness is different side to side. Again, 100% in a sound booth.
I'll be asking again next doc appt.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I've switched to decaf, wouldn't be tough to drop alcohol.
Damn, EEEEEEEEEEEE is exactly what it is. Mine is 11k Hz, as of course there's a YouTube video of every frequency and I had to know. 
914Driver said:
So, what was it that made you see the light? (I need batteries)
The tinnitus and the sudden inability to tolerate playing the piano. Lawn mower also got too loud, even with ear protection, which I've always worn. Got a little better when I bought the biggest, dorkiest, highest-rated 3M industrial-grade earmuffs. I look like Mickey berkeleying Mouse out there...
procainestart said:
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
I've switched to decaf, wouldn't be tough to drop alcohol.
Damn, EEEEEEEEEEEE is exactly what it is. Mine is 11k Hz, as of course there's a YouTube video of every frequency and I had to know.
Right ear is much louder than left, and different in pitch. They're off key, which is even more annoying than it should be.
Allegedly, they used to rouse Beethoven out of bed by playing an imperfect chord, which he would have to get out of bed and "correct". I sleep with headphones on so I can have background noise to wash it away. Makes for interesting dreams, at least, when whatever movie is looping filters through the fog of sleep.
In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :
Ouch! Off key would SUCK!!!
Im blessed that despite significant losses in random frequencies, and higher sensitivity to noises, I do not have te ringing.
The random tones thing is annoying; hopefully by the time I can no longer survive without aids, they'll be even better at separating what gets amplified.
MD Hearing aids VOLT+ ......$600 for the pair......after spending the $3750 for the audiologist two step and having to go back to get the "adjustment" ....the VOLT+ are rechargeable and I can adjust the dynamics of the situation by pressing a button on the aid
Duke said:
In reply to z31maniac :
I've been getting mailings from Miracle Ear since I was about 20, thanks to a girlfriend (now wife) with a prankish sense of humor.
That's a pretty good one!
