March 13th, 2010
Daylight savings time is almost upon us here in the states and this gets me thinking about summer and the challenges that this can bring for the users of hearing aids. The primary challenge that summer brings for hearing aid users is the fact that hot days often are bundled with water activities and we all know that water and hearing aids are not the best of friends.
I would love to hear from our readers about the ways they deal with hearing aids in summer. Is it safe to remove your hearing aid at the beach, leave it on your towel and take a swim. I would say not. Hearing aids are too expensive for that type of treatment. How about leaving the hearing aids in the car. This exposes them to the next most dangerous element of summer - the heat.
On first glance, the solution seems to be to leave the hearing aid at home when you are going out for a hot day at the beach. This, however, is no solution at all.
Please share with us the tricks and tools you have developed for using hearing aids in the summer.
Tags: Hearing aids summer
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March 6th, 2010
The million dollar question - or should we say - the $700 question, is what to do with a broken hearing aid. When is it time to throw away your hearing aid and when it is a better idea to get it fixed. This is a tough question that actually applies to most electronics, not just hearing aids.
The challenge with the idea around repairing or throwing away a hearing aid is that they are so expensive to begin with. It is a no brainer to throw away a $30 toaster if it is no longer working. The same can not be said for a $800 pair of hearing aids.
There are many companies offering to repair hearing aids for as low as $30. If you can find a person to repair your hearing aid at this rate we would recommend doing it so long as you can get two things with the repair. One, you need to see some reviews of the persons work. Find someone who has had their hearing aid repaired their and make sure they are happy. Two, get a warranty. Anyone offering to repair your hearing aid should be willing to give you at least a three-month warranty.
Tags: broken hearing aids repair
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February 27th, 2010
Is there a market for buying and selling hearing aids? Is it safe to buy a used hearing aid and use it? Can you get in trouble for selling damaged, used hearing aids?
All of these are great questions that beg for answers. After some research it seems that selling and buying used hearing aids is a very heated topic. Think of the family who just paid $3,000 for a hearing aid when the user dies one month later. This is morbid but very common. These people are not able to sell the used hearing aid which is very frustrating to them. On the other hand, imagine someone trying to save money, buying a used hearing aid that is set all wrong for them and ends up causing even more damage to their hearing.
It is not common practice or accepted to buy and sell used hearing aids. This does not mean it does not happen. The root of the controversy around buying and selling used hearing aids lies in the fact that hearing aids are very expensive and very customized.
If you have ever bought or sold a used hearing aid please comment.
Tags: used hearing aids
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February 20th, 2010
I am so pleased to be part of this amazing hearing aid website. Participating in this blog has allowed me to get emails from people across the united states and some other countries. All the emails involve peoples experiences and problems with their hearing aids. This interaction has given me great insight into some of the problems that people face with hearing aids.
I have to say that the majority of the problems face with their hearing aids revolve around the warranties and the companies not respecting the warranty. Do you all agree that this is a very common problem with hearing aids?
The next common set of questions I receive around hearing aids has to do with their batteries. It seems hard to believe that in the year 2010 we still do not have hearing aids that can really hold a sustained charge for as long as we want. Hearing aid batteries present a real challenge.
What other problems are you having with hearing aids? Let’s share the problems that we are having in an effort to help each other solve our hearing aid problems. The more info we share, the better experience we will have. Knowledge is power when it comes to anything including hearing aids.
Tags: hearing aid problems
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February 15th, 2010
One of the most popular searches on Google is ‘hearing aid ratings’, clearly this indicates that there is a massive demand by the public to get some form of ratings of all the hearing aids that exist in the market. To put together a valuable and cumulative rating on hearing aids is such a difficult task because there are so many different levels and versions of hearing aids. This makes it almost impossible to rate all the hearing aids.
To approach a valid rating system for hearing aid, there must first be an attempt to categorize the aids. Is the reader interested in how hearing aids look, are they using the hearing aid for severe hearing loss or for very slight loss? Is the hearing aid owner interested in green technology, battery life or even price. You get the picture, it is hard to rate the massive number of hearing aids on the market.
We do have a number of hearing aid reviews on our web site of over 15 top hearing aid brands. Just visit our home page at www.hearingaids1000.com to see the extensive list. The reviews include Oticon hearing aids, Rexton, Siemens hearing aids and many more!
Tags: hearing aid ratings
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February 5th, 2010
If you are reading this post, odds are that you are just in the market for a hearing aid for the first time. First off, congratulations on making the jump. It is very easy to ignore your hearing needs and pretend that you do not need a hearing aid. You are on the right path.
Like many products, hearing aid prices vary dramatically, they range from low of a couple hundred dollars and go all the way to $5,000. The range in quality of these hearing aids is vast. This is not to say necessarily that the more expensive the hearing aid, the higher the quality but there are ranges of uses and expectations of the aids.
For example, at the very low end of hearing aid prices there are products that are simply sound increasing devices with no customizing for the individual. At the high end of hearing aid prices you will find ‘invisible’ hearing aids that are totally customized that have amazing battery length.
So rather than listing all the hearing aid prices, our advice is to visit your audiologist and describe to them exactly what you are looking to get from your hearing aid. You will then know the price ballpark that you are going to be in and you can do a better job of cost analysis.
Tags: hearing aid prices
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February 2nd, 2010
I just returned from London and of course I was interested in the use of hearing aids over there. I have to tell you I did not see many hearing aids in action and I spent time at the Arsenal Man U game with some older folks.
I imagine their health care system makes it as hard as ours does to access and maintain hearing aids.
If anyone has information on hearing aids in London can you please let us know.
Tags: London hearing aids
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January 23rd, 2010
A breakthrough in hearing aid technology is upon us. A company has created a virtually invisible hearing aid. Invisible in that it sits so deep in the ear canal that it can not be seen by others. This is an amazing concept, has anyone tested this out?
I am very interested in this invisible hearing aid that sits deep in the ear canal for months. I am hoping that it works. The company that developed this hearing aid is also working on a hearing aid that can be swam with. We all know that swimming is a wonderful exercise, especially for older people who do not want their bodies banged around. A hearing aid that can withstand up to three swimming sessions a week would be wonderful.
We take our hats off to the company who is developing these aggressive technologies for hearing aids!
Tags: invisible hearing aid
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January 20th, 2010
While we are all painfully aware that it is difficult to get insurance to cover the cost of hearing aids, we have done little talking about the warranty situation for hearing aids. If we are going to spend the thousands of dollars that hearing aids cost, it would be good to be well informed about the various details around hearing aid warranties.
After researching a number of brands, it seems to be common for hearing aid warranties to be a year long. Also common is for the manufacturer to offer to sell an extended warranty for the hearing aid. This extended hearing aid warranty can easily cost over $250.
My initial reaction to all extended warranties is to avoid them. In electronics and in the auto industry the extended warranties are merely a fear sell that generates massive margins for the companies. I am not able to see why this would be any different for hearing aids.
Another way to avoid having to buy an extended warranty is to simply put some money away each month. Consider this your self insurance for your hearing aid. This way, once your hearing aid is out of warranty, you don’t have to pay the exorbitant cost of an extension, you can simply use your saved cash if a repair is every needed.
It is great to have your hearing aid under warranty but we do not advise to pay for the extension.
Tags: hearing aid warranty
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January 13th, 2010
It seems almost impossible to find real coupons dedicated to hearing aids. Has anyone had any luck? On many levels it makes sense that hearing aid coupons would not be offered, but I would think that some version would be offered. Perhaps a clinic would offer a coupon for half of a hearing inspection if it lead to the purchase of a hearing aid? OR maybe there are companies that offer coupons for hearing aid batteries?
Despite a fair amount of searching, I have not found any hearing aid related coupons. Please direct me and our user base if we are missing them.
As mentioned, coupons for hearing aids are hard to find and it seems this should not be the case. Couldn’t Oticon or Phonak partner with a large store such as costco and give price discounts to the thousands of costco members who need hearing aids? It seems to me to be a win win, especially given the very difficult road blocks that are thrown up by the insurance industry.
So, I put this blog to our readers, where can we find coupons for our hearing aids? Please add any relevant information, we will all be very appreciative.
Tags: Hearing aid coupons
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