Fifteen years ago I did get Costco hearing aids. They were hard for me to control using buttons on the piece that was behind my ear. Thus I didn’t wear them often. And I missed a lot, I’m sure.
Enter my new high-end hearing aids: Oticon, sleek little marvels that pair with an app on my phone. And it’s like someone flipped the switch from muffled world to surround sound.
Oticon’s motto is “life-changing technology,” and I’m not rolling my eyes. These devices are discreet, comfortable, and frankly smarter than I am. They even give me little alerts—like a tiny butler in my ear—when the battery’s low. Depending on which setting I am using, the built-in AI is continuously monitoring the acoustic scene in real time—100 times per second — and adapting settings like speech clarity and noise suppression almost instantly.
Instead of fiddling with tiny buttons, I control everything from my iPhone. Volume up for the grandkids’ chatter. Speech clarity for a restaurant. It comes with three easy to set up programs … General, Comfort and Speech in Noise. They can also be set up to have your phone ring in your ear! I took that off as I don’t usually like to talk to others when driving or having coffee with friends.
Comfort mode is a personal setting that reduces overall loudness (when the boys are home and Jesse is vacuuming, for example). Speech in Noise is like being in a restaurant and it lowers the background noise. (Perfect for an HOA meeting with disagreeing opinions)(last night).
The real test came when Kate came up behind me and whispered a request. I braced myself for the usual: missed words, a polite smile, and later a confession of “Sorry, what did you say?” But this time… I heard it. Every syllable. I nearly cried. Imagine regaining a superpower you didn’t even realize you missed. (She wanted me to suggest bringing IN dinner without Jesse hearing her. At 99 degrees, no turning on heat producing appliances!!)
Of course, there’s still a learning curve. I’ve actually been bolted out of my chair when the microwave beeped. Now adjusted. I can hear the dryer beep from down the hall and in my room. The grandkids find it hilarious that Grandma has an app just for her ears. But mostly, I’m reveling in this newfound clarity. It’s not convenient to change anything while driving and Oticon provided a compact-style carrier to pop into my purse.
So here I am, awkwardly aging yet boldly declaring: if you’re on the fence about hearing aids, don’t wait. Life’s too short to miss the whispers.
I'm glad to hear *pun intended* that the new device is working so well for you. Any App on my Phone would be far beyond my capacity to use it, I am so Tech challenged it's ridiculous that I used to be able to run several Departments in my Corporate Lives, handle so much back then, and now can't learn how to use my own Phone, and heaven forbid someone gives me theirs to use, I can't even turn it on!!! The Man is almost legally deaf, I'm hard of hearing now too, but, we haven't yet ventured into Hearing Aide Territory, but knowing which ones are best, since they are expensive, is important when needing and then choosing one. Thanks for the Thumbs Up on this Model.
ReplyDeleteI am in love with them but they are NOT perfect. I thought the audiologist and I turned OFF the automatic phone call straight to my hearing aids. Seems like every few days it happens.
DeleteMy one month evaluation is coming up mid month and I am keeping a list of questions.
Nothing makes a person seem old and on the road to dementia faster than not hearing or miss-hearing. People put off getting aids too long, or get them and don't wear them daily which is how you get used to them. Mine could have the app but I prefer not to use it because I don't always have my phone with me around campus.
ReplyDeleteMost people DO wait too long. Much harder to adjust too.
DeleteWe are so opposite! My phone is always with me! Purse or pocket (yes, my inexpensive Amazon summer dresses have pockets!)