This is a hijacking

[AfterMidnightRambler]

I'm guessing that I'm going to catch some crap for this but hear we go (pun intended). I'm posting on FRF because this seems to be a place well represented by individuals that can relate.

I'm 51. I've enjoyed music at levels not medically approved my entire life. (Excess is something that I've not avoided, a redundant statement for this forum).

My wife has passed the point of complaining about my lack of comprehension and I'm finally realizing it myself. I'm considering hearing aids - anybody have advice?

 

[RogueClimber]

Get tested, just because you can't hear doesn't mean you need hearing aids

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

well if you dont get hearing aids you cant hear your wife complain.....

go see an audiologist and get your hearing tested. im guessing you have probably lost the higher frequencies. i would say 10k hz and above. at your age normally you should still be able to hear up to 15k hz. usually the higher frequencies go first, but depending on how much damage you did, the air pressure could have damaged lower. constant ringing in the ears and muffled sound is a tell tale sign of higher frequencies gone.

 

[Oldfart]

What this ^^ guy said! GO SEE AN AUDIOLOGIST! Hearing damage from loud noise is almost never an across the board loss. You tend to lose frequency specific ranges. These hearing aids you see advertised on tv are total ********. They are just straight amplifiers. A good audiologist, after extensive testing, will set up a hearing aid for you that is only boosting the weak/lost part of your hearing. What happens with the straight amplification types is that it will sound like certain noises, like plates and silverware banging in a restaurant will be VERY loud, yet you can't hear your friend across the table talking to you. A custom setup from an audiologist is also CHEAPER many times than the hyped crap you see all the ads for.

 

[New recaros]

Totally agree with oldgoat/fart but hearing aids are a rip off. 4-6k for a good pair. I think they take advantage of the older folks.

 

[Oldfart]

Totally agree with oldgoat/fart but hearing aids are a rip off. 4-6k for a good pair. I think they take advantage of the older folks.

They actually came down a lot from what they were 15 years ago. The last pair I got my dad were about 11,000 for the pair. One of my friends just got a good pair a few months ago for $6,300. They have a lot of nice modes now on the new ones, one for hunting, one for movies, etc. He borrowed a pair of those Miracle Ear that get advertised so much, he thought they were awful. He loves the one I talked him into buying.

 

[ToadSmasher2K1]

This model is inexpensive and doesn’t require batteries. Seems like a winner

 

[cdodgela]

My wife has been telling me for the past 5 or so years to get my hearing checked (I'm 56) and I told her there's no chance of me wearing hearing aids until I'm 60 so why bother get tested early.. I know I don't hear as well as I use to, but it's still good enough. I still have 4 more years before I make that audiologist visit.

 

[GordoJay]

Hearing damage from loud noise is almost never an across the board loss. You tend to lose frequency specific ranges.

^^^ This.

Normal people lose the high frequencies as a result of loud music, unprotected cordless hole puncher use, a noisy workplace, or just living in loud cities. But there are a lot of abnormal people. Many of them hang out here. You know who you are. My father spent lots of hours sitting on a tractor. Guess who had an unusual loss of hearing right around 2000Hz? Right where you need it to understand speech? He couldn't wear normal hearing aids because they amplified high frequencies. That drove him crazy and he still couldn't hear people talking. Once the fancy DSP hearing aids came out where they could amplify specific frequency bands independently he was good to go. One size does NOT fit all.

 

[DFS]

I'm guessing that I'm going to catch some crap for this but hear we go (pun intended). I'm posting on FRF because this seems to be a place well represented by individuals that can relate.

I'm 51. I've enjoyed music at levels not medically approved my entire life. (Excess is something that I've not avoided, a redundant statement for this forum).

My wife has passed the point of complaining about my lack of comprehension and I'm finally realizing it myself. I'm considering hearing aids - anybody have advice?

I'm 29, I've had hearing aids since I was 18. Congenital hearing loss that went undiagnosed until taking the ASVAB and getting a physical, missed out on a lot those years without knowing it. Go see an audiologist, it could change your life.