Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hearing aids - tell me about 'em

You might give the VA another shot. I'm not a huge fan and tangle with them frequently, but getting Phonak hearing aids was about the easiest thing I've ever done with them. They didn't even check my service-connected-ness. I think so many vets need them they just give them rather than fight it. I'm used to annual fights with them since they often bill my insurance when they should not for the other s/c stuff. Anyway, I'm 48 and really like mine, bluetooth, synch with your phone for controls, podcasts, etc.

My problem was crowds, I couldn't hear shiite at conferences, big dinners out, bars, etc. Plus it's nice hearing birds again, I didn't realize how much I missed. And it's awesome to turn them up when I'm in a tree stand or turkey hunting. They're a bit noisy in the wind or if your sunglasses bump the rocker volume button. But I'll take that downside to hear better.

Oh, and my daughter figured out since they synch with my phone, she walks by me and says "hey google...play Ariana Grande" or some such nonsense and walks off. Then I have to scramble to turn the @#$%! thing off.

Pay the $5K -- it's for a service plan. You get filters and batteries, plus reprogramming. You've forgotten how to hear and the augmentation sounds "wrong'. Programming based on re-testing tailors the aids to your life. Costco may be fine for beginners, but your loved ones need for your hearing to be the best it can be. (Learned all this taking care of my dad.)

Many units (like my Resounds) have a "Restaurant" setting that switches off the rear microphones. In theory, that focuses on sounds from the front to help you hear people you're looking at. In practice, restaurants and other public places are awful - with or without hearing aids. If you have trouble hearing people now, it'll be a little bit better with hearing aids, but nothing miraculous.

Mine also have a third setting that adds white noise (I picked rain showers) to help counter tinnitus. I call it the Anesthesia Setting because when I turn it on, I'm a goner. Asleep in seconds. Man, is that nice!

Great thread, this sorry place at it's best.

What do they do with dead people’s’ hearing aids? Does Nana put Peepaw’s in the jewelry box, junk for Jesus, etc?

I would like to try some for bowhunting.

Dr Dre and Ice Cube ruined my hearing.

I have tinnitus in both ears and my left ear just holds up my glasses so I'm overdue for hearing aids.
My question is, what do you guys do when you're shooting? Do you remove them while hunting? Do they have the ability to cancel out loud noises like a gun shot?
Thanks.

I generally take mine out when shooting/hunting and use custom fitted Magnum Ears. They're analog rather than digital, but I can hear well with them and they block gunshot noise wonderfully. I can shoot my .500 S&W and it sounds like a gunshot on TV.

In general hearing aids are all the same with the electronics, the piece that fits in ones ear is unique to the individual. Probably why they never get passed along. Some places may fit a new ear piece and reuse the rest. At the range I take mine off. In the field I just wear them. One shot is not that bad. they do attenuate somewhat depends on the settings.

I got a couple sets of the ol' mans when he died. Supposedly the best the VA had. But I can't find anyone that will refit them to me, so I could get some use outta them......

NEVER wear hearing aids while shooting. There is a safety circuit but it is designed to protect the hearing aid - the level it shuts down at is way above that which will cause you damage. If you liked spending all that money, you just made sure you'll need new ones sooner.

You may or may not get fitted canal pieces, depending on several factors. Mine are open canal, and have only a tiny rubber basket on the end. I could loan my set to others if I and they wanted to. It's possible to have a mold of your ear taken and get new canal pieces made, then have older aids tuned to your needs - but most places would rather not. That's due to hearing aid technology improvements, and also to that fact that a given set may not meet your needs at all. It's a bit like needing a pickup and inheriting a sedan. (And they lose the sale, which means losing a huge HUGE markup.)

" Do they have the ability to cancel out loud noises like a gun shot?"

No!!!

Huh? I guess according to my wife I am in the market for a set. Be Well, Rustyzipper.

"They're a bit noisy in the wind or if your sunglasses bump the rocker volume button."

What brand of hearing aids do you have? I hear almost no wind noise as long as the wind is in my face (like it usually is when hunting) because the receiver is behind my ear. The volume button is about 1/2" from the top of my ear so my sunglasses don't get near the button.

"in a few years the batteries in the rechargeable get too weak to last all day"

How long did you have them before the rechargeable batteries wouldn't last all day? I really like my rechargeable Resound hearing aids. Costco will replace the batteries free for 3 years and after that you have to pay for the battery.

Who know how to stop the itching in your ear canals? Got mine from Costco and happy with them, but can't stand them because of the ear canal itching?

I already had itchy ear canals before I got hearing aids but hearing aids made it worse. I think everybody has that problem with hearing aids though. Costo gave me a small (14 ml) bottle of Comfort Ear which helps quite a bit. Your supposed to put it in your ears at night before you go to bed. Costo keeps it in stock behind the hearing aid counter. They gave me another bottle when I used up the first bottle. I use Hydrocortisone occasionally when they're really itching.

Thanks Victoro, I'll follow this up.

It isn't predictable, though. I find that since I started wearing mine, my canals are less itchy and make less wax. I feared both would be worse, but I'm pleasantly surprised.

The recommendation is to change wax guards and tips weekly. I find that twice a month is plenty, and even then it seems almost a waste at times. They look clean but I still dutifully change them.

Asking my peers about hearing aids (are they worth it? do they help a lot?) brings up one unfortunate response, often repeated. "Yup, I got some at home in the drawer someplace, you wanna try 'em, I'll dig 'em out". There may be a lesson in there somewhere.

That is an unfortunate thing. It takes a little while to get used to hearing aids - over a month for some. Some just give up.

Yes, everything will sound different (That's kinda the whole damn point isn't it?) and they'll be uncomfortable until your ears adapt - a bit like going nose-blind to odors that are around all the time. But after that, wearing them will be (I hate this phrase) the "new normal".

Mine were a bit painful where the tube presses against my ear cartilage. And I couldn't believe how creaky the stairs were - nor how loud it is when I pee! But all that has now passed. I've had mine for just over a year and I could not tell you just when the discomfort ended and when my aids became just another thing I put on in the morning like socks or my glasses. But that did happen.