I wear one aid in my right ear - since about aged 22. My other ear is still ok. My last aid was £1800...as I only need one I don't get any benefit form 2 for 1 offers, though the previous aid before that I paid £1500 for and got two, one in the ear and one behind the ear (for the same ear so i had a spare) as Boots let me do that. The other issue is that I tend to get the mid range as the upper range benefits are really for two aids (proper binaural hearing and focus on speech etc).
I did get a NHS one about 5-7 years ago and had so many issues with it that I gave up in the end, Still in the box, I must get round to going to the clinic again and getting it fixed as a spare.
They are amazing bits of tech though. So many times I have answered my phone, or listened to music or podcasts and no one knows I do lol.
Are they worth £1800? To a good eared person no. To a deaf person maybe.
To a deaf person good hearing aids are, in my case, everything, which is why I think more should be done to reduce the cost.
In the workplace I became more involved in meetings simply because I was able to hear what people around the room are saying, which was very good for my wellbeing because I felt included.
As an introvert, deafness makes life (in my case) more difficult in crowded environments because repeatedly saying “pardon, can you repeat that” etc makes you feel less inclined to interact with people and you can come across as antisocial, when you are actually feeling anxious because of not being able to track conversations.
I have only had my current aids for 3 weeks, so I am still experimenting with the different settings, but it is good to be able to switch to a setting that cuts out background noise in a noisier setting, such as a bar, cafe or plane. Streaming music has moved to an even higher level, which is great for my walks, especially as you can still hear what is happening around you despite having music piped into the middle of your head.
I would caution against rechargeable hearing aids, though, if like me the user does a lot of streaming.
I trialed a pair that claimed up to 42 hours of battery life on one charge and up to 36 hours with streaming.
My experience showed that streaming reduces the battery life by 14% per hour of streaming, so an avid streamer would empty the battery in 7 hours of continuous streaming. Plus, as we know from mobile devices, rechargeable batteries deteriorate and lose the charge more quickly with age.
I read this morning that Angela Rayner is able to use sign language, so she clearly has a connection with deafness, so I may try to reach out to her office to bring some attention to this.
Won’t hold my breath though.
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