I need a hearing aid, please help me work out next steps

[Warmfire]

I have always had poor hearing in my left ear and got tested a lot when I was a child. However got to my late 40s without any significant issues but recently have found it hard to hear things in loud rooms or when my kids are talking to me. I went for a hearing test today at Specsavers and the hearing technician assessed me to have "profound hearing loss' in that ear (my right ear was normal). She said that I could get a bog standard hearing aid through the NHS by going through my GP but the hearing aids aren't that strong and might not be good enough for profound hearing loss. As I am under 55, the cost of a hearing aid would be between 1k -2k!!!! is this normal, I can't afford that much! Should I just stagger on til I am 55? Any helpful thoughts of experience would be gratefully received, thank you ☺️

I'm going down nhs route in similar circumstances. Have had to wait eight months for an appointment though. It is not only the initial outlay but the follow up which is costly. Some nhs ones can be bluetooth and fancy according to the hearing thread. In some areas Specsavers have the nhs contract so might be quicker. However given that they have a stake in recommending private ones I wouldn't trust them. A hearing test I had there a few years back failed to identify my, already long term , hearing impairment.

NHS hearing aids www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4986620-nhs-hearing-aids

For Those of us who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing Part 2 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/4821299-for-those-of-us-who-are-deaf-or-hard-of-hearing-part-2

A hearing test identified that I have a slight hearing impairment, rather than buy an expensive hearing aid (as I have an iPhone) I bought a pair of AirPods Pro for £250. I tested my ears using a free hearing test app that created an audiogram. I then used the accessibility function in iOS to use them as informal hearing aids. They work very well particularly in noisy places such as supermarkets, however the battery life is a bit short at only 6 hours.

NHS hearing aids are great, thy buy them in from the best brands and obviously have them for every level of loss.

babies and young children with profound losses get fantastic hearing aids. NHS ones connect to Bluetooth etc.

NHS ones are not bog standard. Might be worth getting referred on NHS and see what they say. If get nhs ones, moulds/ear pieces and batteries all included. If private, there are ongoing costs.

I have what is probably profound hearing loss in one ear and I have an NHS aid. In my experience NHS audiologists tend to be a bit less dramatic when talking about the hearing loss and private ones are always trying to flog you paid for hearing aids. I've been wearing hearing aids since my mid 20s. Although i am currently recovering from the surgery for a bone anchored hearing aid, which I understand will cost the NHS about £5k (that's just the aid, I had a whole theatre team for the op and goodness knows what that cost). Go and see your GP and take it from there but be warned waiting times can be lengthy and exactly what you'll get varies from trust to trust (some don't do Bluetooth for eg. My BAHA is being funded directly by NHS England)

Just go to someone like Specsavers.
The hearing test is free and you'll get an instant result as to whether you need an aid or a further tests.

Did you even read the OP?

The NHS aids are fab! I’ve been deaf since birth and I’ve flipped between private and NHS and the NHS are better. I would never in a million years use a spec savers type place. If you want to go private, find a dedicated and qualified audiologist. But honestly, the NHS audiology depts are generally fantastic. I’ve been a patient at multiple trusts in my lifetime and they’ve all been great.

I also suspect you’re not actually profoundly deaf in normal definitions because that would often imply the need for lipreading or sign language to support communication even if you were wearing hearing aids. I am severe/profound borderline, have 2 powerful hearing aids and rely heavily on lipreading even with them in.

Please do not necessarily fall into the clutches of the private providers. I wear nhs hearing aids. It does slightly depend which trust you come under but it is ludicrous to say that nhs supplied aids are no good. Mine are great. They are Bluetooth, work with an app on my phone, have different settings to suit different scenarios etc. They are the fourth pair i have had (as in, they have been updated according to new tech). When i need new batteries, i simply call a number and a whole load are sent free in the post. All this would have cost me a bomb in specsavers. Please ask your gp for an urgent audiology referral. You bag also get eg discounted travel such as a disabled railcard.

Do you have a job? You may also find that your employer will fund some extra support for you under the access to work scheme.

Come onto the hearing thread...i had actually not found the second one so i am grateful it has been linked here!

I have just got hearing aids via the nhs . They are made by a 3rd party company so there are no nhs hearing aids anymore .

I had a double ear infection in March and whilst trying to fix it I asked for a referral to ent . This resulted in hearing tests and they showed I have moderate hearing loss. This qualified me for nhs treatment .

I was shocked and upset about having them but it is what it is ... I'm grateful I haven't had to pay for them .

They are actually really small and discreet .

This is why Mumsnet is so great, really helpful information all around, will check out the hearing section of the site and book an appointment with my GP and check my employer’s health policy. My dad is profoundly deaf but wasn’t when he was my age so wonder if it could be genetic, my 15 year old DS also has some hearing problems. Thank you everyone who responded, really helpful.

@isawTheSkids

You need to learn to read full posts before you comment.

I have 60-70% hearing loss in each ear. I have nhs hearing aids. They are over ear but they are tiny and very discreet. Nothing like what they used to be

Yes, i meant to say that I began with in-ear ones but wa switched to over the ear ones as my trust found tjat the in-ear ones kept going wrong and were forever coming in for repair. At first I was upset- I thought they were clunkier and more obvious; and would rub the top of my ear. Actually, they are less obvious (hidden under my hair) and perform far better.

I was initially v upset when first told I needed them. I was embarrassed to tell people at work. Now I am totally out and proud about them, and employers have to be (and generally are...) really falling over themselves to help. They know the pitfalls under employment law of not adhering to your rights under reasonable adjustments and so on.

So interesting, the Specsavers lady just showed me one set of NHS hearing airs which were the old school big hearing aids with large pink ear piece and said these are the ones you get on the NHS and they aren’t as good sound quality as the ones through Specsavers. They couldn’t even offer a payment plan, it was just half up front and half when they arrive, and for 1 - 2 k that’s a lot. Good to hear that the NHS ones can be discreet, not that I am particularly vain but have 4 children who find me embarrassing at the best of times unfortunately. Really appreciate the helpful input from everyone

Go to the gp and ask for a referral to ENT. I did when in early 40s, having been wearing hearing aids but really struggling with face masks and had a operation to replace one of the bones and hearing drastically improved so much that I don't need hearing aids any more. About to have the second ear done.
Its been a long road about 2.5 years ( they also have to wait between operations to ensure its all worked), but its transformed my life, hadn't realised how much it had affected my confidence having to wear hearing aids and still missing so much of what people were saying.

These are the day I got them to show my husband I was ok and they were no where near as bad as I thought they would be and as you can see the wire and the bit that goes in your ear is hardly noticeable..

The lovely lady got me blonde coloured ones to go with my hair !

That's really sharp practice and so untrue. I have private ones at the moment (cost £4,000) and they are brilliant. But I've had good NHS ones too. NHS ones made by Phonak. Private ones made by Phonak. Only difference is that the private ones are rechargeable. I largely went private (to a very good independent audiologist) because of not being able to access NHS audiology during Covid. Specsavers are a disgrace if that's what they are telling you.

So glad that I asked these questions, could have been really ripped off by Specsavers, I don’t mind waiting if the NHS wait is a while, I have one good ear which is apparently working fine!

Bullshit, nhs hearing aids have moved on with the times. Bluetooth compatible, multiple settings for different social situations. Clear soft ear molds and the aids themselves that ruck behind the ears are small. I wouldn't trust spec savers over a proper consultant led test, assessment and fitting. I've been profound deaf since birth.

The Specsavers lady said I could only have the old school ones on NHS and anything like small/discrete/ coloured aids would need to be procured via Specsavers. Very odd that she gave such misinformation as she seemed quite professional

@Warmfire mine are 'old skool ' in design and i was prepared to buy smaller ones but I think these are actually less visible because the unit is behind my ear . The ones in your ear will show more in my experience.

You won't get those big ones on the NHS, I was offered those in the late 90s so struggled on for a few more years, but they are v discreet these days - or not, I have silver ones with a sparkly mould. Although not every trust is offering the Bluetooth models, the Bluetooth ones are apparently brilliant ( my new one will be Bluetooth) but they are not being offered across the board yet and I wish others would remember this

I've had NHS hearing aids for10 years. Specsavers audiologists are just the same as those that you might see in the audiology department of your local hospital. The one I see at Specsavers works in NHS hospital clinics too. As far as I know Specsavers has the NHS contract, as Boots does too. I have been very happy with the consultation and aids in Specsavers. The only difference is that here you don't have to wait nearly so long for an appointment at Specsavers as I used to wait for the hospital.