Hearing Aids

Nathan said:
@Pappy, I take you have established a Service Connected Disability with the VA for your hearing loss? I just printed the application form (VA form 21-526EZ)yesterday. should have done it years ago, but the "process" sounds a bit intimidating.
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For me, the process was painless and I even got "Back pay" for any co-pays I had paid prior to getting the Service Connected rating. Our VA Medical Center seems to really care for Vietnam veterans.

Tony
 

tbeltrans said:
For me, the process was painless and I even got "Back pay" for any co-pays I had paid prior to getting the Service Connected rating. Our VA Medical Center seems to really care for Vietnam veterans.

Tony
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Well I'm so glad to hear this, I've harbored a very negative view of the VA for so long, and really couldn't tell you why.
 
Nathan said:
Well I'm so glad to hear this, I've harbored a very negative view of the VA for so long, and really couldn't tell you why.
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It was only just a couple of years ago that I came to the VA. I didn't even realize we had that access! When we got back from Vietnam, we were pretty much dumped on the street. I knew about, and used, the VA mortgage to buy my first home, and the school benefits. But it was a Marine (can't say ex-Marine because unlike us Army guys who scattered to the four winds, the Marines seem to be a family that is always there) Vietnam veteran on Public Radio I heard one day talking about getting checked out at the VA if you were exposed to Agent Orange. I went the VA and found out that I qualified for a level of service connected disability for some health issues I have. It was all new to me. As for Agent Orange, they can't check for that specifically, but instead have a whole list of health issues that are directly related to that exposure.

Anyway, as I understand it, the VA went through some major overhauls due to a lot of complaints from veterans prior to my going there. So I have never experienced the problems that gave the VA a poor reputation, and instead have only had excellent experiences even better than my wife gets with her civilian clinic. We have both been in the hospital, me at the VA, and her at civilian hospitals. I think the VA does a better job. As the nurse told me during a weekend stay in the ICU, civilian hospitals are driven and ruled by the insurance companies and they decide what care you will and won't get. The VA is patient-centered so you get the care you need. She said that from her experiences with much of her career in civilian hospitals and then 10 years currently with the VA. From what I have seen with my wife's hospitalizations, that is quite true. The Minneapolis VA Medical Center wins many awards for its services and operation, so I am very fortunate to have that VA to go to. I have no complaints and am grateful for their care.

Tony
 

@Nathan,good luck with your hearing aids. Mine run about $3000.00 and they aren't top of the line and only last about 4 years if I'm lucky. I took the second best because the top aids help when in a crowd. You can tell who is talking. We don't go out much so it wasn't important to me. TV is still a challenge because most TV sets have the speaker in the back.
I use captions which helps. Even the audiologist can't understand why TV sets are made that way.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
@Nathan,good luck with your hearing aids. Mine run about $3000.00 and they aren't top of the line and only last about 4 years if I'm lucky. I took the second best because the top aids help when in a crowd. You can tell who is talking. We don't go out much so it wasn't important to me. TV is still a challenge because most TV sets have the speaker in the back.
I use captions which helps. Even the audiologist can't understand why TV sets are made that way.
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They are planned that way so you are forced to buy a sound bar! That's what I call "good business" or perhaps "consumer ripoff."
 
Packerjohn said:
They are planned that way so you are forced to buy a sound bar! That's what I call "good business" or perhaps "consumer ripoff."
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Since we have to have the sound bar anyway, why not put an adjustable compressor in it so that when you turn it up to hear dialog, anything else doesn't blast you out of the room?

Our sound bar uses an HDMI connection to our TV, so I can't insert an audio compressor I have laying around for recording. I suppose I could look for a box that takes HDMI and provides RCA or 1/4" audio outputs.

Edit: for those unfamiliar with the device, a compressor will bring up sounds below the adjusted lower threshold and bring down sounds above the adjusted threshold. This is why I stipulated "adjustable". We will each want to set it differently. The difference between an audio compressor and a limiter is that the limiter only limits the upper volume to prevent clipping, while the compressor adjusts the volume to fit with an adjustable upper and lower range.

Tony
 
tbeltrans said:
When we got back from Vietnam, we were pretty much dumped on the street. I knew about, and used, the VA mortgage to buy my first home, and the school benefits.

Tony
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My experience as well, Tony.

Yesterday I got my hearing test with an audiologist that examines veterans for Service Connected Disability claims. He pretty much assured me that I in fact qualify, and that he will report such to the VA. I am optimistic.
 
Nathan said:
My experience as well, Tony.

Yesterday I got my hearing test with an audiologist that examines veterans for Service Connected Disability claims. He pretty much assured me that I in fact qualify, and that he will report such to the VA. I am optimistic.
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You will probably do fine with the qualification. The VA seems to be taking Vietnam vets more seriously these days. I suspect it is due in part to pressure from various groups regarding veteran care in general, as well as the fact that our experiences are being validated by those returning from the Middle East conflicts.

Tony
 
To be honest, I haven't kept up with the research, but when I did work in an ENT clinic, the MDs told their patients that hearing aids were not effective for tinnitus. Tinnitus is a neurological problem. Deafness caused by the bones in the ear fusing together is a mechanical problem. The guy down the street with an audiometer, who pushes hearing aids, may not be the best place to get medical advice. That said, my mom got extremely hard of hearing, and talking to her on the phone was a chore. She did get hearing aids, but she rarely used them. I'd call her, and it was like a comedy album. "Mom, how are you, today". "No, I don't have rats in the hay". I'd yell to hear to put her aids in, then she'd understand me.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Tinnitus is a neurological problem. Deafness caused by the bones in the ear fusing together is a mechanical problem.
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Well, I recently received a letter from the V.A., was granted a monthly amount of $144 which should be coming my way, at some point. Very odd though, they granted me a disability rating for my hearing loss- 0%, and an additional disability rating for my tinnitus, of 10%.
So I am pleased with the outcome, but as for remedying my hearing deficit I am uncertain what the next step will be. When I had my hearing tested at Kaiser Permanente, they indicated that I had hearing loss that hearing aids could help. Since the V.A. is not granting a hearing loss rating, just the tinnitus disability, getting hearing aids from the V.A. won't be happening, since hearing aids don't help tinnitus.
I guess I can use my disability check to pay for hearing aids....
 
Just got back from my VA appointment for new Hearing Aids.

It's been over 5 years on the last set, so I was due for a new test and Aids ( you can get a new set every 4 years
according to the Dr. )

Test took about an hour, normal beeps and such, plus a spoken word test.
Liked that they did that one, as hearing conversations seems to be my biggest problem.

Decided to continue with the 'in-the-canal' ones because I wear glasses and now the 'mask thing'.

They took a mold of each ear and they will be custom built. They are Bluetooth and a handy app for my phone.
Even get a TV connector box to listen to the TV or Stereo.

I'll go back in a when they arrive for fine tuning. Service was excellent; Audio is something the VA gets my vote on.
 
I received my hearing aids back in February from the VA. Overall, I am pleased the hearing aids that allowes me to live and among normal hearing people. The VA did grant me a 10% disability rating for tinnitus and 0% for the bilateral hearing loss. Seems a little crazy receiving VA disability benefits for tinnitus, not the hearing loss. But do appreciate what the VA has done for me.
 
Pappy said:
See the little box with the green and yellow light? I love ❤️ it. It transfers my tv sound to my hearing aids. I can actually understand what the tv says without turning up the volume. They came with my new hearing aids.

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@Pappy that is wonderful. I'll probably need new aids soon.
The audiologist that I go to has a unit like that for $200.00. After paying about $3000.00 for the aids I decided I didn't want to add to the bill. Maybe I can talk her into throwing one in on my next visit.
It is such a competitive field, the last time I was able to get free batteries for the life of the aids rather than lose a customer.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
@Pappy that is wonderful. I'll probably need new aids soon.
The audiologist that I go to has a unit like that for $200.00. After paying about $3000.00 for the aids I decided I didn't want to add to the bill. Maybe I can talk her into throwing one in on my next visit.
It is such a competitive field, the last time I was able to get free batteries for the life of the aids rather than lose a customer.
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Ruth. I should think you should be able to barter with her. There is a very high mark up on hearing aids. To really hear the tv seems nice.
 
Just a update on my new Hearing Aids I received from the VA recently.

First off, the Doctor at the local VA spent well over an hour setting my aids up and linking them
to my phone app.
Very comfortable in my ears ( have the in-the-canal ones ) and wear them about 8 to 10 hours a day.
The aids were molded to my ear canals so they fit like a glove.

Battery life is about 3 to 5 days depending on how much music or TV I steam to the aids.
The VA sends me free batteries and wax guards for the units and right now I have about a 6 month supply.

About the App on my phone. The aids are Bluetooth and they connect flawlessly to the app.
I can adjust volumes, select different settings like Restaurant, Music, TV etc.
They handle music very well, nice and crisp.
Can also have the Audio department remotely connect and adjust the aids if I need more options.

As you can tell, I'm very pleased with the Aids the VA supplied for me.
By the way, they are Phonak Virto M90 Aids, pretty much the top of their line of Hearing Aids.

Looking back, Hear Protection was available, but when you're young you think "I'll only be around that plane
for a little while "... hearing loss was the last thing I was thinking about, just Git-R-Done!
 
Ron has worn hearing aids for a few years. His are Beltone and he’s never been happy with them. They slip out of his ears, they squeal, he still can’t hear the tv well and we’re all still having to speak up.

I’ve been trying to get him to see an ENT which I’ve had no success with. Finally convinced him to at least see an audiologist to check out other Aid options, rather than just continuing to go back to Beltone time and again for adjustments which basically do nothing.

The audiologist said his ears were so plugged with wax that he couldn’t do anything till they were cleaned out! 🤦🏼‍♀️ He went to have that done but the wax was hard and impacted. We’ve been applying drops to loosen the wax up enough that it can be flushed out. Hos Doctor will hopefully be able to get that done today.

When he can finally go back to the audiologist he will at least be able to choose from a variety of brands of hearing aids, rather than just being limited to the one Beltone brand. With a wider range of choices he will hopefully be able to get a better fit which will aid his hearing.
 
StarSong said:
Not to be gross, but how does that happen?
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In his case his ear canal is weirdly shaped and very narrow. In spite of cleaning out his ears regularly (drops, irrigation etc routinely) they back up after a while.

Even though he does his best to stay on top of it his efforts are sabotaged to a degree by the fact that wax buildup becomes worse as we age, AND he wears in the ear hearing aids which tend to push the wax down.

He can’t wear behind the ear appliances so he does the best he can with what he’s got to work with. 🤷‍♀️
 
Ronni said:
In his case his ear canal is weirdly shaped and very narrow. In spite of cleaning out his ears regularly (drops, irrigation etc routinely) they back up after a while.

Even though he does his best to stay on top of it his efforts are sabotaged to a degree by the fact that wax buildup becomes worse as we age, AND he wears in the ear hearing aids which tend to push the wax down.

He can’t wear behind the ear appliances so he does the best he can with what he’s got to work with. 🤷‍♀️
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Thanks for the explanation.
Seems all these circumstances are creating a perfect (earwax) storm. Glad the doctor is on top of it.
 
Speaking of tinnitus...I damaged the nerves in my ears years ago when I was an avid walker and wore ear buds connected to my cd player. I was going through a horrible divorce at the time so I'd crank up the music (mostly Heart and Meatloaf and Queen) to get my mind off what was happening at that time in my life.

The "noise" I hear is like the static from the old tv signoff at night. Remember that? That's a constant noise and I've thought about hearing aids but I've been skeptical about how they would help. I'm not going to waste my money on them. I've lived with this noise for over 25 years.
 
I have hearing aids for a couple of years....Yes they are expensive but I have to hear.... Of course at night I take the hearing aids out
of my ears....It's hard to go to sleep....But I'm alive!!!!!!!
 
I have been wearing them for a while. At first I bought "TV Ears" to listen to TV, but finally broke down and bought good ones that are programmed to match my loss, which is worse in my right ear. They are Bluetooth enabled and I use them with my smartphone, and have an adapter for the TV.
 
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