I've never thought of myself as geriatric, but now that I'm in my early 60s, I'm definitely on the high side of middle age, and I do enjoy the occasional senior citizen discount, but I think I recently crossed a threshold when I got a set of over-the-counter hearing aids.
My mother and younger sister have both started wearing prescription hearing aids in the past couple of months, and this got me wondering whether they might help me as well. I have long struggled with tinnitus, that constant ringing in the ears, and have lately been experiencing greater difficulty understanding what people are saying to me, especially in noisier environments.
I have been told, both by my doctor and an audiologist, that hearing aids would be of little or no help for my tinnitus, but as other hearing difficulties have increased, I decided it might be worth experimenting with, just not at the price my mother paid for hers. What I got cost about an eighth as much and offers many of the same advanced features. So, what did I get and why were they such a bargain?
The hearing aids I ordered are Audien Ion Pro rechargeable over-the-ear OTC hearing aids. Some critics might argue they are not true hearing aids, since they are primarily sound amplifiers and are not customized for an individual user, but instead employ an one size fits most approach. But that's not to say they don't perform as advertised--at least mostly.
These devices offer a host of features found in higher end prescription hearing aids, including:
- setup and control through a phone app;
- a selection of six sound profiles to better match my hearing needs;
- a selection of three situational settings, conversation, crowd, and TV;
- Bluetooth connectivity for phone calls or audio streaming;
- built-in rechargeable batteries with a charging case, similar to wireless earbuds
In addition, the devices came with a cleaning kit ear domes in four different sizes, and replaceable wax guards. Best of all, they were eligible for purchase on my flexible spending account, which has excess funds that either must be used by the end of the year or forfeited. I figured it was better to take a gamble on these devices than let the company that administers my FSA keep the money. So, how well do they work? We'll break that analysis down into three phases--setup, operation, and comfort.
Setup--The Ion Pro hearing aids arrived charged up and ready to go, but I still needed to download and install the phone app to access the advanced features. That was the easy part. The hearing aids actually need to make a total of three Bluetooth connections in order to be fully integrated with one's smart phone--one for each hearing aid, plus a third to access phone call and audio streaming functions. This is where I ran into difficulty. I could only get one hearing aid to connect to my phone, which prevented them from being fully operational.
After several attempts to solve the issue myself, I called Audien's support line and managed to stump two different technicians. The second one put me on a call back list for an Ion Pro specialist, but I have yet to receive that call. Fortunately, I figured out what the professionals couldn't. The phone app has a "forget and start over" option that purges previous attempts to pair the hearing aids with the phone, and having done that, I was able to set the devices up and choose a sound profile, then activate the phone call and streaming functions.
Operation--The sound quality on the hearing aids is surprisingly good, with the exception of the sound of my own voice, which sounds as if it's coming from outside my body. The television and my car's audio system have minimal distortion, and the phone call system works well on both ends, and the audio streaming function is adequate, but only when the Bluetooth connection is working properly.
Comfort--The over-the-ear portion of these hearing aids are a bit chunkier than some prescription models I've seen, but not nearly as big as models from the past. They're still fairly discrete. I've never been a fan of earbuds, but these are comfortable to wear for a few hours at a time.
I seem to have a little difficulty keeping both hearing aids continuously connected to Bluetooth, which somewhat impedes functionality. My other gripe is interference from fluorescent lights. I noticed at work today, that whenever I walked directly under a fluorescent fixture, the hearing aids gave off a crackling sound similar to a Geiger counter. When I entered my tiny office, which has two fluorescent fixtures taking up most of the ceiling space, the noise was unbearable and I had to take them out and put them in their case.
All that said, voices are indeed clearer when using the Ion Pros, and the small amount of what might be described as carrier noise or white noise they naturally produce is sufficient to make my tinnitus far less noticeable when wearing them. It should be noted that tinnitus relief is only mentioned anecdotally on the company's Web site, and not claimed as a designed feature.
The literature included with the hearing aids suggests it could take up to three weeks to become sufficiently accustomed to them to gain full benefit and ability to wear them all day. The recommendation is to wear them one to two hours a day for the first week, three to four hours the second week, and six or more hours beginning the third week. I'm only a couple of days in with them, so I have a ways to go before I can accurately assess how much they will help me, but I'm cautiously optimistic. The question of whether I got my money's worth is an open one. Even though I paid far less than what prescription hearing aids would have cost, it's still not an insignificant amount of money. But then again, it's money I would have lost if I hadn't spent it, and getting something for my money is clearly better than getting nothing.
UPDATE (two months later)--I have to be honest here. I have just started using these hearing aids again. I found I most needed them while teaching class, but I got out of the habit of wearing them once the fall semester ended. It took a little time to resume, but I'm glad I have. I have learned to select the appropriate situational setting, usually 'conversation' or 'crowd', and that can make a huge difference. The 'crowd' setting does an amazing job of eliminating excessive ambient noise. I have also figured out that the 'Geiger counter' noise at work is not coming from fluorescent light fixtures but the motion sensors deployed throughout campus to control those lights. I seldom wear these devices for more than a couple of hours at a time, but they are very helpful when I need them. Given my use pattern, I'm very glad I did not spend several thousand dollars on a prescription pair. These are quite adequate for my needs.
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