Babies
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Christopher Null
Christopher Null is a veteran technology journalist and the owner of Null Media, a custom blogging company. View all posts by Christopher Null
Babies
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As a long-time (40-plus) years wearer of hearing aids, I came away from your Wired story on the Signia hearing aids with two thoughts:
One, nice to see a tech mag finally writing about hearing aids. Two, however, your story contains several misconceptions about hearing aids.
Most importantly, hearing aids do NOT become uncomfortable over time; if they do, they’re NOT fitted properly. I’ve worn mine while riding a bike 40-60 miles in heat, and they do NOT hurt me.
Your in-ear aids should be customizable for each ear — after all, your ear canals are not identical, and there’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all. When mine have bothered me, my audiologist has shaved down my custom-made ear molds. I suspect the itching part could be corrected with custom ear molds — I wear mine 14-16 hours a day and seldom have that problem.
Two, hiss is NOT inevitable. If they’re hissing (I guess you mean feedback), they’re too loose in your ear, allowing some of the “noise” from the aids to escape and be re-amplified. Again, custom-made ear molds should fix this (and the audiologist should be able to program you aids to filter out hiss/feedback — mine have this capability).
Three, the correct set of hearing aids is perfect for listening to Bluetooth audio. My Pixel 4a phone streams both music and phone calls directly into Resound hearing aids — no earbuds needed, and no one else hears what I hear, so I don’t both those around me when listening to my music loudly. This is available with iPhones and some Samsung phone. And Costco sells a device that streams TV volume directly to my aids, as well.
And by the way, my Resound hearing aids cost $2,500 at Costco, and Costco not only guarantees them for three years, but will replace them if lost and (in most places) has audiologist available 7 days a week.
But congratulations on accepting the fact you need hearing aids; many people see them as a weakness (even though they wear contacts or glasses). You’ll find they make your life (and those around you) much more enjoyable.