HAs that I use 3

I have learnt my lesson the hard way. For your hearing problem you should always visit a ENT doctor and then get a thorough checkup of the ears done and get a recommended HA from the doctor and also the audiogram report.

As I went to the audiologist directly bypassing the ENT doctor I was prescribed HA for one ear initially which became a very detrimental in the long run. I lost hearing almost completely on the other ear as it sort of stopped working because practically for hearing, I was using only the ear fitted with the HA. The other ear sort of went into hibernation and after sometime for its own purpose.

In the year 2007, I went for checkup again as it was getting very difficult in getting the conversation right. The stone age HA was bringing in all the noises into my ears except those sounds needed by me.

Again Shreyas Hearing Clinic in Jayanagar. Sniffing a slaughter lamb in me, those people recommended their highest price HAs. I finally went for a In The Ear (ITE) Siemens Infiniti Pro costing me 34 grand. Those came good as far as their electronics are concerned, but had a defect in the mould for the right ear.

Wearing these caused me pain in the right ear canal after few hours, everytime. I went back for a refitting and the Shreyas people instead of helping, somehow convinced me that my ears will get used to it after some time. My ears never got used to it and I started to avoid wearing the right one. After three years of such in and out, my right ear hearing was almost dead.    

HAs that I use 2

Continuing from my second posts about the HAs that I use...

I have used the Siemens Phoenix 103 for the period 2002-07. It was never continuous and things were never easy with this strap-on.

This was an analog model HA and it did not have frequency selection or channels as those HA sellers will tell you. It was so to say an amplifier which amplified each and every sound no matter if it is a loud one or a soft one. The end result is it gave me pain in the ear every time I go out wearing it because of the loud amplified noise from the roads and vehicles.

Not only it made things more difficult in the outside environment, but it looked ridiculous on me - I could not converse with others even when wearing but could do so well without it.

However I must admit, it worked well in quiet surroundings like inside office premises.

And a very important thing is it had a volume control roller switch with which I can set it to zero if the surroundings are too noisy for me.    

Hopefully some good news for HA users

Here is a news article about Google Glasses project and how it will/may improve the lives of HA users.

The data shown in the article about rising costs of HA is startling and unsettling for HA users like us.

Here in India the HA options that are available may not be world class but that did not prevent the manufacturers and dealers to charge a bomb on whatever they peddle.

Current state of HA affairs

Saw this article while browsing. Cannot vouch for the authenticity of the article as it appears in many websites and sometimes under others names, however some of the points raised are very valid. It tries to view from the HA users perspective.

Extract from the article below. Complete article can be viewed here.

When a dissatisfied patient complains about the hearing aid, their hearing aid is re-programmed by a hit-and-trial method which further frustrates the patient and they give up using their aid altogether.

Hearing aids I use.

Let me start with the HAs I use(d).

In 2002 I first started wearing HA after a visit to Shreya's Hearing Clinic in Indiranagar. The audiologist there, Dr Sathya Ranna after testing my hearing, suggested a HA only for the right ear as it is less damaged of the two. I still could not figure out that logic. The model I selected was Siemens Phoenix 103, analog, behind the ear (BTE) for the right ear. I didn't had any idea about HAs till then, the primary reason for selection of this model was, it fit my budget. In fact it was equal to my monthly income then. It costed me 10k INR. I still have it and its working.

In 2007 went for a checkup with Shreya's at their Jayanagar outlet. It was found that my hearing loss has increased much more and I was prescribed HA for both my ears. Again I was at a loss which model to select. The audiologist with all her sales training pushed for a higher model costing 70k INR disregarding my budget. In the end went for digital model, Siemens Infiniti Pro, single channel, in the ear (ITE). That came at around 34k INR. The order took around a week to deliver. I will continue the user experience in the next post.   

Welcome to myself

I am, as you guessed, a hearing aid user from India. I am starting this blog to share my experiences in using Hearing Aids (HA), different options available in the market, get others opinion on their HAs, possibly share our old unused HAs with less fortunate ones and many other things that we could share through this medium.

Welcome to you all.