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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To go for private hearing aids?

32 replies

user1471453601 · 26/06/2019 18:42

I've been wearing NHS hearing aids for over ten years. Recently I asked about an upgrade to them. I was told no can do.

Over the last year or so I have found myself More and more isolated. It's me really. I find conversations in a loud environment ( by loud, I mean the kind of noise that is heard in all restaurants) v v difficult.
OnTuesday I went to a provider of hearing aids (not NHS). OMG, the difference is just blowing me away.I

The sound through my television (using over ear headphones) is amazing. People speaking to me when I have my back to them? I can bloody well hear them. Waiters serving me in restaurants, I can hear them instead of guessing what they are saying.

I feel safe in my home as I can know hear if anyone comes to the door. It's all so liberating.

Yes, they are going to cost an arm and a leg, and I hate, hate hate the fact that, just because I can afford them, I'm going to have a better quality of life than some other hard of hearing person who cannot afford them.

So
, I feel guilty about being able to afford a better quality of life, because of what? Total good luck.

I don't think many people realise the isolation that hearing loss brings. And that fact alone pisses me off

OP posts:

tiredteddy · 26/06/2019 18:45

Do it. No it’s not fair but what a difference for you. My dad just got private ones from boots not nhs and he is so so so impressed. They filter out the background noise, he can hear the quietly spoken grandchildren etc he is not regretting it at all. And they charge in little station so no fiddly batteries!

reluctantbrit · 26/06/2019 18:50

Go for it. My mum wears hearing aids for 40 years now, so obviously has seen lots of development in the area. While her insurance pays a decent sum towards it she still has to budget several thousand pounds every couple of years but for her it is a lifeline.

She is very hard hearing, nearly deaf but the latest version she got means she has so much more hearing and is a lot happier, they seem to have developed something new again. For her it means a conversation in a busy area, talking to people when it is noisy. All what we take for granted.

If you can afford it do it.

JamOnTheCarpet · 26/06/2019 18:51

Hearing aids get better because the companies developing them make money from the expensive aids, and the results of this filter down over time to the NHS... Maybe? It's how I'd frame it I'm my mind.

Hearing loss sucks, I have family members with hearing loss and issues of my own too. If they'll make that big a difference to your life and you can afford it then do it.

Tsaminaminazangalewa · 26/06/2019 18:51

The world has never been and never will be a fair place unfortunately. Some people can afford things others can’t. If you applied your thinking to other areas of life you’d have to move out your home because other people will never be able to afford a home, forgo hospital treatment as there’s no health service in many countries and if you can’t pay you don’t get medical attention. Get the aids that give you a better quality of life and enjoy them.

SummerHouse · 26/06/2019 18:53

Yes it's not fair. Yes you should absolutely get them.

MrsCasares · 26/06/2019 18:54

My mobile phone filters through my hearing aids (private). I never used to call people, but my hearing aids have liberated me. They don’t use batteries but have a little charging station.

Go for it, you won’t look back.

saturdaynightgin · 26/06/2019 18:55

I’m one of those that can’t afford go to private for my hearing aids (been wearing them for 20 years, since I was in primary school) and I don’t begrudge you at all OP.

Go for it! You can’t live your life comparing yourself to others

Adamcgrathagain · 26/06/2019 18:56

No it’s not fair but you should definitely, definitely get them. I’m reliant on one NHS hearing aid with my other ear starting to deteriorate and I’m wondering about private aids in a few years maybe. Be lovely to hear in a restaurant again.

LaurieFairyCake · 26/06/2019 18:57

Obviously buy them

But I'm also with you on the 'isn't it awful that people who can't afford it have a lower quality of life '

I think when it comes to health it should be broadly the same

modzy78 · 26/06/2019 19:02

I sometimes need a hearing aid, so I totally understand what you mean about it being isolating. At this point, I'm going with the NHS. But everything I'm seeing makes me think I might go private if my need becomes permanent. I'm an American living in the UK, so I feel for all the people back home who don't have the option of anything due to lack of public health care (and private insurance that usually doesn't cover hearing aids). But that's not going to stop me from using mine. Get the ones that work for you and consider petitioning for better options from the NHS. (I, for one, would prefer the environmental impact of rechargeable batteries.)

Original poster

user1471453601 · 26/06/2019 19:04

Thanks for your comments. I already know the i will.go for them. I can afford them (just). It just pisses me of that a socially isolating disabilitylike loss of hearing, isn't thought of in the same way as any other disability.

I even heard a presenter on BBC news the other day saying the oh so funny remark (about Andy Murray's grandmother who failed to.hear a question). "Whar?". Yeah, us hard of hearing folk, find that bloody hilarious .

SOrry, rant over

OP posts:

HollowTalk · 26/06/2019 19:05

I have had poor hearing since I had measles as a child, but I'm really noticing it now. I went for a hearing test - I didn't start pressing the button until halfway in as I didn't understand what the woman told me, so inevitably it came up that I had severe hearing loss. It's not severe at all. How did you find a private provider?

queenMab99 · 26/06/2019 19:16

I became aware about 4 years ago, that my hearing was not good, I am not very deaf and could manage without aids but both ears are affected. My Gp referred me to Specsavers, the hearing aids I was fitted with are small and unnoticeable, they are checked every year, batteries service and ear fittings supplied free, all NHS.
I know Specsavers do more expensive ones but these are great for me, it seems unreasonable that if you can't hear well enough with the ones you are supplied with, that they can't supply better ones.
The other thing that bothers me is that I am extremely short sighted, and could not cross roads or catch a bus without glasses, or contact lenses, but I have to pay about £300 for glasses, whereas hearing aids, which I could manage without, are free.

queenMab99 · 26/06/2019 19:22

Forgot to mention, mine have 3 settings, 1s t normal hearing, 2nd filtered out background noise, so that in a noisy environment I can hear just the person in front of me, and the 3rd connects to a hearing loop, in cinemas, theatres etc.

Catapultaway · 26/06/2019 19:29

If you want them and can afford them then buy them.
There will always be people worse off than you with a worse life, hearing related or not. Just like there will always be people better off than you with a better quality of life.
You wouldn't think of not living in your house because their are homeless people.

And on the plus side, if you are not using the NHS ones anymore then technically you are saving them money for other people that can't afford another option.

Floralnomad · 26/06/2019 19:33

My ds has needed hearing aids since he was 6 and he’s always had private aids as we couldn’t get ITC on the NHS . He got his latest set from Specsavers who we’ve found to be excellent for aftercare , he has their top of range ones .

MintyCedric · 26/06/2019 19:40

Being nosey, would anyone mind giving a ballpark figure as to the cost of private hearing aids.

My mum's hearing is appalling and none of the NHS ones she's had so far have helped significantly.

I'm sure she could afford to go private (although whether or not she would is another matter )

Cryalot2 · 26/06/2019 19:49

I wear nhs aid . I have had it changed over the years . I have severe hearing loss . I wear a tiny aid. It recently stopped working. I got an appointment for a few days later. It had stopped working and I got a new one. I cannot fault the nhs hearing department.
Ok the phone will always be a problem, but apart from that I can hear as well as anyone else. Better than dh .
My friend spent thousands on private ones and has little back up and her aids have not helped much.
It is very isolating, and it happens gradually.
I am just thankful for my nhs one .

BusySittingDown · 26/06/2019 19:58

Ooh, interesting!

I've been wearing NHS hearing aids since birth (well obviously not since birth but ykwim). I've always found them amazing but recently I've been really struggling with my hearing. I can't hear people at work, the TV isn't loud enough. I feel as if suddenly everyone in the world is MUMBLING - speak up for Christ's Sake . I constantly have to ask people to repeat what they said and it's so irritating.

I'm seriously considering private hearing aids.

YANBU!

BlackeyedGruesome · 26/06/2019 20:02

You buying private also helps others as it saves the NHS money.

InternationalRelationist · 26/06/2019 20:19

I have tinnitus in one ear with fairly severe hearing loss at higher frequencies. I struggle to hear when there's a lot of background noise or when talking to a softly spoken person. I had a hearing test with the NHS about 18 months ago and saw a registrar who referred me to an audiologist. I've heard nothing since! I may end up going private. Do you mind if I ask how much your aids will cost? Top of the range digital at Specsavers are £2700 a pair.

AlwaysDancing1234 · 26/06/2019 20:22

I have hearing loss and can’t afford private ones but I say absolutely you should go for it. If I win the lotto I’ll be doing the same.

codemonkey · 26/06/2019 20:26

I'm normally very anti paying for health care but I wish my mum would consider this. I've even offered to pay for her but she won't hear of it. When I see how my friend's mum is with her private ones and then I think about my mum's shitty NHS ones... Makes me sad.

codemonkey · 26/06/2019 20:26

Ha ha. I've just noticed my pun

codemonkey · 26/06/2019 20:28

You buying private also helps others as it saves the NHS money

Specious argument. Thats not how it works. People flying first class doesn't make economy better. Paying for education doesn't mean more investment in schools. And so on.

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