Day 2 with Hearing Aids

 I couldn't wait to post my 2nd day with my new hearing aids. I am so delighted that I bought these. As a review, I bought the Jabra Enhance Select 300 with the 3 year warranty and 100 day trial for $1995. Now for my second day:

Today, I took a walk up to the restaurant near the beach. As I walked outside by the lake, I turned on the nature mode and was delighted to hear all the beautiful bird sounds; sounds I had not heard before. Pelicans I usually hear, but some of the smaller birds that made twittering sounds had been out of my hearing zone. Not today. It was a bird symphony! 

The wind was blowing, but it did not interfere with my hearing at all. In fact, I could even hear the swish of the palm tree leaves as they blew back and forth, brushing against tree trunks. Never heard that before! 

As I passed an apartment that was having work done on its roof, I could even hear a workman on the roof talking to his coworker! 

Next I went into the restaurant. This was a small one so I didn't expect to hear much difference. But I did! As I walked in, it became very noisy with dishes clattering. One push of the button on my hearing aid and I switched into restaurant mode. I made some other adjustments on my phone because I was having trouble at first hearing the girl taking my order. Then I sat down and just listened. 

I heard the workers talking back and forth, taking orders, and even understand most of the orders being given. Next to me I heard someone tearing open a straw wrapper. I didn't know that made a sound! LOL! Then a worker turned on a blender! Waaa! That was loud, but a quick adjustment and the noise went away. The other thing that I had never noticed before was the music playing in the background. 

When I left, I had my second "Too loud" experience. I was standing directly in front of a car bumper when the owner turned the car on. OMG! That was loud! I had switched back to nature mode. I quickly switched modes and walked away. I wonder how that would have sounded in the Everyday mode? 

As I'm walking back home, I hear someone talking on the phone across the street and understand what they are saying! I hear people talking on their patios. Before I reach my house, I decide to take them out and experience the difference. It was huge! All the pretty bird sounds disappeared. No conversations, no trees swishing, just muffled sounds and a rare bird call. 

Next, I decide to go to Kroger for groceries for my covered dish on Sunday. This was another exciting adventure! My hearing aids connect to Apple Car Play! As I was driving I got a phone call through my hearing aids! Then, I used Siri to call someone else. That was fun! 

In Krogers, I noticed music playing again. I have never noticed music in Kroger's before! The other thing that happened at Kroger's was I thought I had lost one of my hearing aids in the parking lot. They are so comfortable, I was sure it had fallen out. Nope, it was there! 

All in all it was a great day. I came home and took them out for the day . . . trying to stick to the four hours a day for now. One of the ear pieces that sits inside the ear feels like it could be a tad bit too large, so I might switch to a smaller size. I'll ask the audiologist on Wednesday.

My score for these hearing aids is still A+! I'm very happy with them so far. I'll update after a large restaurant visit and the covered dish. 

UPDATE: March 30. I recommend these hearing aids 100% for anyone with low to moderate hearing loss. I am very happy with them. They do everything I need and more. They are comfortable, easy to adjust, and effective. I can't imagine how higher priced ones would help me any more. 

Day 1 with Hearing Aids

I did NOT realize how bad my hearing was until I got my new hearing aids! They came yesterday by Federal Express. It took me about a half-hour to get them in my ears, between making sure they were charged and figuring out how to work the app that goes with it. 

Yesterday, I wore them for about four hours. I went to a craft meeting that was in a medium size room with about ten people. I had no trouble hearing everyone or adjusting to the aids. I took them off when I got home and charged them overnight.

This morning I wore them to watch one of my favorite TV shows: Tournament of Champions. I took off the captioning I normally have on so I could test my hearing without the help of the words on screen. I did fine - no captioning needed! I did have to mute the tv whenever they had loud clapping. I will talk with the Audiologist to see if this is something that can be adjusted. 

The real eye opener came when I was three-fourths through the show and decided to take off my hearing aids. Without changing any settings on the tv, I took them off to see if I could tell the difference. OMG, it was like I was in a tunnel. I couldn't understand much of what was said at all! Now I see the difference! I really did need these aids! 

So far, I really like them. It was easy to learn to use the app to adjust for sound and noise level. There are preset settings for All Around, Restaurants, Music, and Outdoors. In addition, with a click of a button, I can customize each of these presets on a more personal level. 

  

On the hearing aids themselves, I can tap a button to change the volume or rotate between the four presets. Very easy to do and convenient. The app can be used to make more specific changes if needed. I'll be testing this more when I go to church and covered dish on Sunday. Today, I'm going to take a walk outside and see how they do.

They recommend that I wear them a few hours a day until I get used to them. So that's what I'm going to do. 

Next week, I'll have my Audiologist appointment to make any further adjustments, if needed. I will update after that. So far, A+ for these hearing aids! 

Getting Real About Hearing Loss

I've been dealing with hearing loss for over ten years, but the price of hearing aids and the thoughts of wearing them kept me from doing anything significant about it. About eight years ago, I bought an OTC pair for $600 and wore them about a month before I quit. They were one-size-fits-all and did not work for me. What a waste. 

Last year, I went to an audiologist who told me I have mild hearing loss and recommended I not waste my money on hearing aids, which were in the area of $8-10K. So I continued on with life. . . 

. . . pretending I hear when I don't. Here are some scenarios that give me trouble: I'm in the car riding with my friends chatting against the sounds of the engine humming, the tires on the road bouncing and rolling, and the wind beating against the car from all directions. Even worse, I'm at a restaurant dining among clanking dishes, the bustle of servers taking orders, and the high and low pitched voices of people conversing. Or, I'm at the opera or theatre, trying to understand not only what's happening on the stage, but also the friends that I go with. Lucky for me, they now have closed captioning on TV and at the Opera. I do have good eyes, but that's another story for another day! Unfortunately, my friends don't have closed captioning! In all these scenarios, I miss about 50% of the conversation; and, gradually, lose interest in being there.

Lately, I've noticed more comments from my friends and family about my hearing, so even they have noticed. Yesterday, I finally did something about it. First, I did research online to find out the prices of hearing aids and the different between OTC and Rx hearing aids. I knew that, in 2022, our government passed a law establishing new guidelines for selling hearing aids to those with mild to moderate hearing loss. And, since I knew my loss was considered mild to moderate, I settled on purchasing one of the new OTC hearing aids now available. 

First, I looked into Costco, which was highly recommended. I decided I did not want to drive an hour away every time I needed to deal with issues. The recommended hearing aids at Costco were the Jabra brand, so I did research on Jabra online by looking at reviews from audiologists and on BBB to learn about after-purchase service. Apparently, this is one of the best brands available at the price point, and it's equivalent to some of the better Rx brands, especially for those, like me, who have mild to moderate hearing loss. I finally settled on the Jabra Enchanced 300 with a three-year warranty and online support for $1995. 

They tested my ears online. I wore my Apple air pods with noise cancellation to take the test for an optimal in-home testing environment. 

Jabra offers a no-interest payment plan for 12 months, but I opted to pay outright as I didn't want to add to my monthly bills. However, this is a good option for those who don't want to pay in full.

The hearing aides, programmed to my hearing loss, will arrive on Friday. I have a ZOOM appointment the following week with their audiologist to help me learn how to use the Jabra 300 and to do any final programming. Then, I have 100 days from the time they arrive to decide if they are working for me. 

I'll update you on my progress and let you know how it goes. If it goes well, I hope others will take advantage of this new, lower-cost resource for hearing aids. From my own experience, I can see how hearing affects your mental health. I found myself feeling left out of the conversation and wanting to just stay home. That's not healthy for anyone.