Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

If you wear a hearing aid

68 replies

Soubriquet · 25/05/2023 19:27

Do you ever get the crap scared out of you when it beeps to let you know the battery is low?

It seems to be a thing lately. I jump every time. There’s no other sign. It doesn’t start to get quiet, it just suddenly goes bong bong.

OP posts:
caramac04 · 25/05/2023 19:58

Doesn’t bother me but even things that did ie screeching wind noise on a blustery day, no longer do so. I’ve been wearing mine for about 5 years now and am very comfortable for the most part.

Fandabedodgy · 25/05/2023 20:05

Lol yes. Its always unexpected and sudden and makes me jump.

Then its the panic of did I pack batteries.

Original poster
Soubriquet · 25/05/2023 20:39

caramac04 · 25/05/2023 19:58

Doesn’t bother me but even things that did ie screeching wind noise on a blustery day, no longer do so. I’ve been wearing mine for about 5 years now and am very comfortable for the most part.

Oh god I do not miss that!!

That changed when I had a digital hearing aid. For a good 15 years I had to suffer that

OP posts:
Grrrpredictivetex · 25/05/2023 22:36

Hugs and huge congratulations on your new home. Enjoy the freedom. You've well and truly earned it.

CountingMareep · 25/05/2023 22:54

I tell you what, I don’t find it scary, but I do find it incredibly annoying. Not least because it always happens at the wrong moment. 😂

My HA’s link to my phone, fortunately, and the app has a bit that tells you how much power is left in the battery, so I’m not often taken by surprise. Plus, I can usually tell when the battery is losing power because speech tends to lose its acuity.

species5618 · 26/05/2023 00:44

caramac04
My OTE digital aids are still noisy on windy days to the extent I don't wear them.
Poor design with the pickup microphone on top of the aids ideally placed when the wind blows over them

Grrrpredictivetex · 26/05/2023 01:12

Grrrpredictivetex · 25/05/2023 22:36

Hugs and huge congratulations on your new home. Enjoy the freedom. You've well and truly earned it.

Sorry wrong thread.

Mars27 · 26/05/2023 01:16

Mine goes BEEEEEEEEPP always at the wrong time like a PP said. Every single bloody time I'm having to hear something important. Either that or the sodding Roger pen goes as well.

neilyoungismyhero · 26/05/2023 01:17

Apologies for hi jacking your thread OP but does anyone have ear aids which aid clarity? Volume isn't an issue just clarity.

Also yes the ding ding does annoy.

Mars27 · 26/05/2023 01:26

neilyoungismyhero · 26/05/2023 01:17

Apologies for hi jacking your thread OP but does anyone have ear aids which aid clarity? Volume isn't an issue just clarity.

Also yes the ding ding does annoy.

Do you know what kind of hearing loss you've got? I've got sensorineural bilateral and clarity has always been my problem opposed to volume. If I wear my HAs on their own they don't help at all, the only thing that helps me is the Roger pen. My HAs are NHS (Phonak Nathos) but I think if you go private you may find something more helpful.

Lucinda7 · 26/05/2023 02:01

I have NHS hearing aids. They play a little tune when the batteries are running down. And also when new batteries go in.

neilyoungismyhero · 26/05/2023 02:14

Mars27 · 26/05/2023 01:26

Do you know what kind of hearing loss you've got? I've got sensorineural bilateral and clarity has always been my problem opposed to volume. If I wear my HAs on their own they don't help at all, the only thing that helps me is the Roger pen. My HAs are NHS (Phonak Nathos) but I think if you go private you may find something more helpful.

Show quote history

I lost the plot last time I went as nothing changed..I keep mentioning the clarity but the 'tweeks' do no good. They're going to start again with me apparently! but will mention what you've said....thank you.

Original poster
Soubriquet · 26/05/2023 08:35

CountingMareep · 25/05/2023 22:54

I tell you what, I don’t find it scary, but I do find it incredibly annoying. Not least because it always happens at the wrong moment. 😂

My HA’s link to my phone, fortunately, and the app has a bit that tells you how much power is left in the battery, so I’m not often taken by surprise. Plus, I can usually tell when the battery is losing power because speech tends to lose its acuity.

Wow!!! Now that’s a hearing aid. My last upgrade was around 15 years ago. Nhs hearing aid.

I need to bug them about another upgrade really.

OP posts:
Original poster
Soubriquet · 26/05/2023 08:37

Lucinda7 · 26/05/2023 02:01

I have NHS hearing aids. They play a little tune when the batteries are running down. And also when new batteries go in.

Mine do a little tune when I turn them on. Which is by closing the battery pack…I have to open the battery slot to turn it off.

My (very) old hearing aid, my first one, had a button I could turn it on and off with

OP posts:
Mars27 · 26/05/2023 08:58

We could have a deaf club thread, maybe this one even? Just to moan and exchange stories and hearing aid tips. I'd like that as it's so difficult to just vent sometimes as hearing people just don't get what happens to us on a daily basis.

caramac04 · 26/05/2023 09:03

@Mars27 I get incredibly frustrated when I’m in the kitchen with noise making appliances running and my DH, sitting at his laptop in the other room, tries talking to me. Honestly I don’t stand a chance of hearing him.
@neilyoungismyhero I find clarity is an issue especially with the tv where I usually have subtitles on. I’m overdue a hearing test by 2 years but when I get called I’m going to ask about aids with the T button and I’m going to have a hearing loop in the lounge.

lorn195 · 26/05/2023 09:06

Lucinda7 · 26/05/2023 02:01

I have NHS hearing aids. They play a little tune when the batteries are running down. And also when new batteries go in.

@Lucinda7 this happens with mine. I can also judge if one is running low then the other will play a time a couple of days later.

rileynexttime · 26/05/2023 09:10

there's a thread in General Health dedicated to hearing loss .I'm afraid I can't remember title so can't link .

Rainbow1901 · 26/05/2023 09:18

Soubriquet · 26/05/2023 08:37

Mine do a little tune when I turn them on. Which is by closing the battery pack…I have to open the battery slot to turn it off.

My (very) old hearing aid, my first one, had a button I could turn it on and off with

Show quote history

That shows your age doesn't it? I was one of the first children in the country to have BTE hearing aids and have had several different kinds over the years.
If I'm honest I don't particularly like the digital aids as they have a tendency to suppress the volume when I actually need to hear things in a loud environment for example.
The technicians also do not understand that what the computer tells them is the correct setting for me does not work in real life and I had a real battle to get them to restore it to the previous HA's settings. The last time I was fitted with new HA's the volume was set so low I'd have been hit by a bus long before I heard it coming and rendered the HA's near enough useless.
But to answer the original OP - I have a general idea how long batteries last for me and can check on my phone if needs be but as another pp said the tone changes slightly for me so I know it is due a change. But if I forget - I do get a shock but have noticed that the warning does not give you long before they cut out altogether which can lead to a minor panic if spare batteries are not in easy reach.

rileynexttime · 26/05/2023 09:20

@Mars27 I've just been googling Roger Pen but haven't been patients enough to absorb all the information .
My sil has HA and difficulty hearing .Do you think something like a Roger pen might allow her to enjoy a classical music concert in a church ?

Nolongera · 26/05/2023 09:28

Soubriquet · 26/05/2023 08:35

Wow!!! Now that’s a hearing aid. My last upgrade was around 15 years ago. Nhs hearing aid.

I need to bug them about another upgrade really.

Show quote history

It always makes me giggle when mine beeps that it's going flat.

I am on my 3rd set of NHS hearing aids in ten years, my latest ones can Bluetooth to my phone, they even have microphones bult in so I can leave my phone in my pocket. I get a new set every 5 years, never paid a penny ( other then national insurance).

My hearing hasn't deteriorated, I just went in for spare tubes and they told me better aids were available.

My sister got hers private as they are " better", 2 grand and they are now out of date crap. She lost one and it was 1500 quid for a single aid.

Original poster
Soubriquet · 26/05/2023 09:29

I need to mention it next time I go in. I’m due in any day now. I’m waiting for a new mould but because our housing is precarious, I’m having it delivered to the hospital instead of home.

I will definitely ask if there’s any upgrades cos Bluetooth hearing aids sound like a dream to me

OP posts:
TrashyPanda · 26/05/2023 09:40

I rather like the wee tunes mine play!

hearing loss isn’t really understood by most folk. Especially the isolation that occurs.

and so many people think it’s amusing to make wisecracks when you tell them you are deaf.

Rainbow1901 · 26/05/2023 09:47

TrashyPanda · 26/05/2023 09:40

I rather like the wee tunes mine play!

hearing loss isn’t really understood by most folk. Especially the isolation that occurs.

and so many people think it’s amusing to make wisecracks when you tell them you are deaf.

People don't understand until they experience hearing loss. My sil has recently purchased hearing aids and was amazed at the difference they made.
She said my brother was a total a* when she didn't hear what he was saying - you'd think he would know better having grown up with me!
One of my sisters also suffers with Menieres and gets so frustrated - not just with the episodes of dizziness and sickness but with not hearing properly. Welcome to my world!!

TrashyPanda · 26/05/2023 09:54

Oh my DF had Ménière’s too.

his attacks came on very suddenly, so no time for meds to work.

Can remember seeing the blood literally drain out of his face when an attack started. His lips went totally white.

I have tinnitus in my left ear, and have recently started having really strange auditory noise in my right ear. It’s two notes, low then higher, vary in pitch and length. Only happens at night. Am wait8ng for an app at audiology.