A Sound Decision – Hearing Aids! Part 1: Selection
Category: Health and Wellness Issues
July 20, 2025 — Do you find yourself leaning forward to hear someone? Do you have to ask your grandchildren to repeat themselves? Do family members mention that the TV is pretty loud? Welcome to making it a “certain age” – you are probably experiencing normal age related hearing loss.
Sadly, it has to come to this for your Editor. I suspect many Topretirements Members are going through some of the same issues. In the hopes that others might learn something from my experiences, this article will share my recent (and continuing) adventures in hearing. Part 1 is about selection, Part 2 covers my experiences wearing them.
My decline in hearing has been coming a long time. About 10 years ago I first visited an Otolaryngologist, (ENT – Ear Nose and Throat M.D.). I kept taking hearing tests most years after that, always with the same result. The doctor showed me that I am missing the higher frequencies; where women, children, and many of the sounds of nature occur. But he didn’t think I was ready to be prescribed hearing aids.
Comments on "A Sound Decision – Hearing Aids! Part 1: Selection"
LS says:
I learned that I had a high-frequency hearing loss when I was drafted during the Vietnam war. At the induction center, the doctors ran me through the hearing test booth three times before they decided that I was still eligible to be drafted into the Army. My hearing loss did not bother me much during my life except for following conversations in noisy places with soft-spoken women and those with foreign accents. Eventually, in my 60's I went to an audiologist for an evaluation after seeing an ENT doctor who said there was nothing wrong physically with my ears. The audiologist, a woman with a foreign accent, found I needed hearing aids and recommended a set costing around $6000. I decided to pass and decided to wait. A while later, my wife urged me to have my hearing evaluated again with the same result. They gave me the chart that showed my hearing loss in each ear. I again decided that the recommended aids were too expensive for what I needed. I then found a company called Eargo that sold aids online but still required medical evidence of need in order to purchase the aids. I have used these for years now. This year, I purchased my third set of Eargo aids. However, they are now considered over-the-counter aids and are no longer eligible for reimbursement from my health insurance. They are about $2600 but give a healthy discount for veterans.
Thomas C Adams says:
Get your hearing aids at Costco. They are about $1400.0
0. I've had them for several years now and they work very well.