If you can afford the $5,000 - great! The current system works for you. 80% of people cannot and so are stuck.
For folks with mild/moderate loss (where a LOT of people don't get help) something as simple as letting Apple tweak noise cancellation to be voice enhancing and providing a tuning and hearing test app in the iphone would be a godsend.
The elderly miss out on a lot of family life because of hearing issues - people stop talking to them even if they are fully sound of mind because of this issue. I've seen this personally.
And for all those who say apple is just a consumer products company and there is no way their $180 - $250 airpods can provide any benefit I think you might be surprised.
Yes, although that test is automated and typically done by a technician not an optometrist. You can train someone to use one of these machines in a few hours. If this was a key test no reason we couldn’t just put one in every GP office and have eye pressure checked during an annual checkup.
> annual checkup We're supposed to go EVERY YEAR?
LOL I know. I haven't been for a "checkup" in close to 30 years.
A hearing test measures how sensitive your hearing is in each ear at a range of frequencies - they send a beep at a certain frequency and ask you if you can hear it, and lower the volume until you can not hear it, raise it to confirm you can hear it. This is repeated in each ear over the normal range of hearing, nominally 20- Hz to 20,000 Hz, most older people have lost at the low and high end. The detailed frequency/volume curve allows the hearing aid to be programmed to bring hearing to the 'normal' curve. Some people may have lost hearing at certain frequencies, it may be an irrevocable loss?
That said, an iphone with headphones can easily create and administer a tone to each ear that can be varies in frequency and intensity - with the customer pushing a button when he loses the tone, repeat to confirm, then on to the next frequency until the audio range is covered. They the customer is given test results and he sets an on the phone equalizer at the values needed for each frequency and he is good to go. It needs to be made to limit the intensity to a maximum, and some gaps might remain where he has lost hair cells and will have a permanent frequency gap that can not be cured unless we learn how to grow new hair cells in the right place of the right length.
A huge market will open up, there will be a wailing and gnashing of teeth in the old FDA shielded crooks, who must adapt or fold. If they adapt, they will do well.
So do I…oddly, I went and got my hearing tested and my issues are with processing, not hearing. The guy said “I actually can’t prescribe you a hearing aid, even if I wanted to.” So, there should be some barrier to entry. Just not at $3500 an ear.
That is a very realy situation for most people. A hearing aid - AIDS you in hearing, but your brain does the processing and speech comprehension. if you start wearing a hearing aid now you will just get lazier with your "hearing". Just like if your knees are sore, and you get a knee brace - when you should have done exercises to improve your muscles supporting your knee - the brace will do more harm than good.
Having worn hearing aids a long time (don't turn sh*t up to 11), I should point out that they require setting per-ear and one can have multiple programs (voice, music, ...). My fear of rechargeable aids is that with serious+ loss they'd burn through batteries in a (very) short time and if they're not replaceable it makes the aids disposable. Fitting is helpful as it's also done for mid-high earphones. This will have…
"And my attempt at bluetooth connectivity for phone calls failed as the things could not stay sync'd during conversations. Better to just use a headset. " And that is what you should use the money you paid for....getting proper follow up and adjustments, including making your BT work. BT and hearing aids have been used for over 10 years.
What exactly is the audiologist going to adjust to improve BT reliability?
I understand why things like drugs we inject in our body need to be regulated. But I don't understand why hearing aids need to be regulated this way and even need a prescription. It's either "hey I can hear well and it fits my ears well" or it's "it doesn't help me hear well".
Because improper use can cause significant hearing loss.
That is a very realy situation for most people. A hearing aid - AIDS you in hearing, but your brain does the processing and speech comprehension. if you start wearing a hearing aid now you will just get lazier with your "hearing". Just like if your knees are sore, and you get a knee brace - when you should have done exercises to improve your muscles supporting your knee - the brace will do more harm than good.
I am in pain every fucking second of walking.
So you should be treated differently than someone who "doesn't walk much because my knees are sore.
> Prescription device means a device that, because of its potential for harm, the method of its use or the collateral measures necessary to its use, is not safe except under the supervision of a practitioner licensed in this state to direct the use of such device and for which "adequate directions for use" cannot be prepared
How were these ever prescription devices to begin with?
Does this relate in any way to us getting cheaper hearing aids? A pair of bluetooth streaming rechargable ones is about $3000. With Transparency mode and the latest software for AirPod pros, you can adjust the frequency distribution, and get what seem to be servicable hearing aids for $250. What I'd like is proper (medical) assessment and fitting, but of cheaper commodity aids that are much much better made with bett…
The tech in the hearing aids is cheap. it is the fitting and follow up where the money you spend should be going. -- that and repairs and regular maintenance.
In my experience with a family member, the fitting and tuning done by the audiologist is as good as a random guess. Constant noise and screeching even after multiple, expensive tuning sessions. As a result the hearing aids get tossed away unused most of the time.
The adjustment offered by something like the AirPods Pro seem much more effective.
Then the doctor leaves their signature off the prescription so that it is effectively useless.
This is just a general thing I've learned from working adjacent to US healthcare... It's annoying to work with and there are all kinds of little rules because of how inefficient the system is. First, always have a list of all relevant phone numbers (at a minimum, but other information is helpful too) to any healthcare entity you need to work with. Your primary care doctor, your pharmacy, your hospital, your preferred…
Exactly what you need when you are sick. That’s horrendous. Here you just get a script and walk up and pay for it. Probably more complicated if you need insurance to cover it but I guess that is rarer here in Australia. Some medicines come out pricey though I admit, for example melatonin is about $30usd a month equivalent, so there might be extra loops if you need assistance with that cost.