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 ☺️

Go NHS first - there is a decent chance it will work fine for you (I've had them all my life as I was born profoundly deaf due to genetics). Some of my family stayed NHS, some went private but all of us are happy with what we have.

It's a lot of money to spend when you might well get on fine with the free option.

If you're profoundly deaf in that ear, I'm wondering how much residual hearing there is to amplify.

If not much, it might be worth getting refered to an nhs cochlear implant unit. You would be an ideal candidate as you have working memory (from your other ear) of hearing. Cochlear implants changed my life in a way hearing aids couldn't.

I think it very much depends on the budget of the NHS trust, though...

My DS2 has been severely deaf since birth, and gets the latest model Phonak aids, updated every few years, through the NHS - he's seen at a central London hospital due to his v rare genetic condition.

I have a mild/moderate loss, and finally took the plunge with aids a little while ago. My local South London NHS trust would only give me 1 aid (despite my hearing loss being the same in both ears). It was not a Phonak. The size of it was about twice that of my sons (despite my hearing loss being much less severe ) - it was massive. And it had no Bluetooth functionality, no programs I could change between in different situations etc. I asked whether this model was the one they gave out to everyone, and was told yes it was.

So I went private, and now have the same aids as my son. The hearing test results I had done privately were the same as my NHS results - I compared the two. The aids cost me £3k, but I would rather spend the money than have the frankly crap aid that the NHS gave me! (I realise I am fortunate to be in this position).

So to all the PPs saying just go NHS, you get the same or better aids than private - it's definitely not always the case! Yes, certainly try that route first, you'd be foolish not to, but don't assume that what you get from the NHS is best in class.

I was referred by my GP for a hearing test. He said it would be faster to get it done (via NHS) at Specsavers. I was given the pink, basic ones - no other choice offered unless I got private ones. I took the pink ones which were hopeless. Basic controls on the aids which were faffy to access and they just made things louder not clearer . After a year I was really struggling and my GP referred me to the audiology at a nearby medical centre. They wouldn’t see me as said I was still under Specsavers for first 3 years. I battled on for another year and luckily specsavers said they then couldn’t see me and to ask for a re-referral.

at this point I asked the GP if I could go to the health centre as my friends had excellent care there and all offered Bluetooth aids. The audiologist was great and gave me some Danalogic behind the ear aids which I control via an app on my phone. They work so much better. They ordered a CT scan as they found mixed hearing loss in one ear. I’ve got the follow up appt for the results and a different test next month. Not too long a wait for anything. I agree with those advising an ENT referral and don’t get fobbed off with old school basic pink jobs. Mine were zero help. Good luck.

I’ve had three different nhs hearing aids over a decade - all useless. Went to a private audiologist and got some quality aids, properly set, and they’re brilliant. The nhs ones were either crap or the audiologists didn’t know how to program/ set them. The private was a lot more efficient too - all done in a single session, not several appointments with different people in the nhs.

This is disgraceful and disingenuous.

Never trust someone trying to sell you something that they know you can get free elsewhere.

NHS hearing aids are excellent. Bluetooth, digital, choice of colours and moulds. And free.

I think the issue is that it depends on the policy of your individual trust, and then on the extent and type of your hearing loss. There is something of a postcode lottery, unfortunately.

I dont need moulds, for example, and i attend an audiology clinic and have never been anywhere near a Specsavers. Mine are phonak now.

You won't know until you try your local trust but if you say broadly where you live (or do so on the hearing thread) maybe another MNer will have recent experience of your local trust policy.

"NHS hearing aids are excellent. Bluetooth, digital, choice of colours and moulds"

In your NHS trust, maybe. Certainly not the case at mine!

She was talking nonsense.

I went to GP (saw nurse), referred to the hospital and given hearing aids. They are small and discreet and connect to Bluetooth - you can listen to music, pod casts and take phone calls directly into your ear. No charge. My friend has a more profound deafness and has NHS aids plus a hearing loop thing for the theatre. My husband got his hearing aids more recently and they are an upgrade on mine.

Make a GP appointment now. They only need to check you haven't got a wax blockage or infection then refer you to the hospital so seeing the nurse is fine.

"She was talking nonsense.

I went to GP (saw nurse), referred to the hospital and given hearing aids. They are small and discreet and connect to Bluetooth - you can listen to music, pod casts and take phone calls directly into your ear."

No, she wasn't necessarily talking nonsense. In that area, the NHS aids offered might be exactly as the NHS lady described.

In my area, the NHS aids are huge, not discreet either in size or colour, snd are certainly not Bluetooth. My son's NHS aids, however, are.

Yes, I wish everyone will stop saying you will definitely get Bluetooth. Look on the main hearing loss chat thread, there are lots of us who aren't offered Bluetooth in our NHS trusts.

yes go to gp and get referred. The hospital may well do an mri to look for any underlying causes.
profound hearing loss in one ear is a unilateral loss and very different to bilateral loss (both sides) as one ear hearing in normal limits means you can hear functionally. Depending on your loss on your deaf ear, hearing aid may not be able to help that side, but there may be some options You can get an aid called a cros aid where you wear two and sound picked up on your deaf side is transferred to your hearing side.
for a cochlear implant you would have to be profoundly deaf in both ears.

I originally went private and had an extensive trial (back every week for 4 weeks), fancy Phonak rechargeable ones. Except they were going to cost £5k and my work weren’t going to pay unless I had exhausted all the NHS options.

My NHS ones aren’t rechargeable but work fine, are small and discreet, and were completely free. I only had to wait a month or so for an appointment.

There's no point in anyone trying to give advice then. She needs to get to the GP and find out what is available in her area.

Exactly, that's what I said in an earlier post - try the NHS route first, it would be foolish not to.

But don't assume the aids they give you are the best, you might be able to get something significantly better privately. It all depends on your local NHS budget.

My dad acquired reduced hearing from working in factories for years (no health and safety considerations!). He went to Specsavers and got some snazzy Bluetooth aids. Now he can ignore what my mum is saying not because he's deaf but because he's watching YouTube on his tablet.

They did cost him £3k though. 😱🙀

I have profound hearing loss in one ear and other isn't much better

I was think late 39's when started to wear heating aids via nhs

And told have very poor hearing for my age

I don't like them as such but they are small and many friends didn't reliese I wore them

I do struggle with background noise and pubs /restaurants etx hard to hear

Go and see gp. They will send you for heating test and go from there

Hi OP,

I hope I can help you a little. I'm an Audiologist and I've worked for the NHS and Private companies so have experience in both sectors.

NHS aids are definitely better than what they were for sure, but they are still 2-3 generations of technology behind what is available in the private sector. You will get a different quality of hearing aid depending on the area you live. In my area they haven't got Bluetooth hearing aids yet so it's not a dead cert that you will get something like that. Some parts of a England are served by AQP which means you can get NHS aids from a private company, usually Specsavers or Scrivens. Again it is not available nationwide. So NHS provision varies, and you will not often get to see the same Audiologist for continuity of care.

Privately, you get much more choice of manufacturer, style, colours and technology and have access to the latest technology and assistive listening devices. You become a client of a particular Audiologist so there is an ongoing relationship and rapport built over the years. Payment plans are available but not everywhere. Usually much quicker appointments too and access to help when needed without a long wait. NHS where I am is a 1-2 year wait for initial assessment so most people if they have the means will go private. Most places will have a money back guarantee between 1 and 3 months so you have a chance to try out in your own environment before fully committing. If you feel pressured at all then walk away and try somewhere else. The Audiologist should be guiding you as to what is most appropriate for your hearing loss and lifestyle but it should always feel like a choice you've made rather than something being forced on you.

So Specsavers "free" testing is basically a hook to let an audiologist who is also a sales person get their claws into you?

We have hereditary hearing loss, all my dad's side of the family.

I got my first NHS pair at 52 ( 10 years ago), sister got the same ones from Specsavers, cost her £1500. She lost one and it was £1000 to replace. Still using them.

I am now on my 3rd set, phonak with Bluetooth , fabulous.

I don't know for sure but if you want the inner ear ones you might have to go private.

Also one more thing that lot of people aren't aware of: although Phonak Bluetooth hearing aids are often given out, certain features are locked on the NHS version of the software so they can't be adjusted as fully as they could be privately.

I’ve tried both NHS and private, admittedly just in the clinic without leaving and I found them both so bloody uncomfortable! But especially the NHS ones as they’re worn outside and have a little plastic thing that goes in the ear. I also didn’t much like the feel of the private, in-ear moulded ones. Are there any suggestions at what one might feel the least?

@Nolongera of course it is ! Same with the eye test !

I have tried in-ear and behind-the-ear aids.

Whilst the in-ear aids are more more discreet, I hated them. I hated the feeling of my whole ear being blocked up. And because your ear is totally blocked by the aid, I couldn't hear my own voice properly - it was like talking with your hands held over your ears; I could only hear my voice inside my head. So I had no idea how loudly I was talking! And I had to take them out when i was eating, because all I could hear was the sounds of me eating.

I personally prefer my behind-the-ear aids. They are very small and discreet, and friends haven't even noticed that I'm wearing them (I do have long hair, though). I wear glasses too, so yes, they are a bit more faffy. And I am able to have the smaller ear domes in my ear, rather than the large ear moulds, which helps with appearance (also, the moulds give the same blocked-up-ear sensation as the in-ear aids). But that would depend on the type/severeness of your hearing loss, as to which were recommended for you.

Sorry, I meant to add, so really it's all down to personal preference, and there's no definitive "best" option.

The private place I went to offered a 90 day trial, after which I could return the aids and get a full refund if I didn't like them. I tried the in-ear ones for about a month, then at my next appointment I swapped them for behind the ears, and the 90 day trial period started again. I do think you need to try them for longer than a few minutes in the audiologist's room!