New to hearing aids and forum

Hearing Aids
1

Hi all.
I am in the UK and couple of months ago I was referred by my GP for a hearing test and was subsequently told that I needed aids for both ears and at the time the local NHS were providing free digital HA’s. They provided me with a pair of Siemens Octiv M (BTE) aids and they do give a level of increased hearing but do lack functionality in connectivity options, and as I spend a good amount of time on the phone for work I wanted to look at Bluetooth options so I am looking at other solutions.

Recently I have inherited a pair of Opticon INO Pro aids (ITE) and have been to the Audiologist company that supplied them and looked at the option of getting these refitted for myself. These aid will be 3 years old in December but can be refitted for a cost of £300 but with no warranty, then an additional £200 for the Streamer.

My questions are

  1. Are the INO Pros any good?
  2. Is the Streamer pro worth the investment and provide good Bluetooth connectivity for voice and music?
  3. Do you think it is worth paying the costs to refit 3 year old aids that are no longer current?
  4. Do I wait and save for the next 12-18 Months to get some new technology aids and not refit these?

Any thoughts and comments you may have to help me in this decision will be greatly appreciated.

2

Richard,

To answer the first question, yes, the Oticon INO Pro will be a good aid, from one of the 6 major hearing aid companies. But it is an older mid range offering from Oticon, that runs on the Rise 2 chip, which has now been superseded, even for the lower/mid range segment, with the Inium chip. Even NHS models now have the Inium chip.

The second question, yes, the streamer pro is not a bad piece of kit. I use it occasionally. I have a pair of Oticon Spirit Synergy aids from the NHS, which have the connectivity - unlike the Siemens you mentioned.

To answer the third and fourth questions depends on your loss, and how much the INO Pro solves the problems you have.

I am not an audiologist, but I can see you have a mild/moderate loss. A lot of the premium aids out there with bells and whistles will do a lot more than the INO Pro, but may only be needed by people with more severe loss. Such as binaural beamforming directionality technology, to filter out speech in noisy environments, in the Phonak Venture and Siemens Binax aids.

So what you have to ask yourself is - can I hear in all situations - calm/noisy/loud music etc etc ? is it clear ? does it sound natural ? Does music sound natural ? Can I hear my own voice ?

If the answer is yes to all those, then you don’t need better technology. If the answer is no, then you may need better technology.

But to re-iterate, Oticon is very reputable stuff. I wore the Oticon Spirit Zest up to the end of the last year, before upgrading to the Synergy aids, and I can honestly say that the sound quality and audibility in a lot of situations was just as good as a lot of the premium Phonaks that I have bought privately, including the Phonak Perseo and Savia. The reason why I mention this is that I believe the INO Pro is comparable, if not better than the Spirit Zest.

Good luck.

Graham

3

The Octiv M has a built-in telecoil. Adding a t-coil program, if you don’t already have one, may help you hear better when using the phone.

4

My conversion could be off but investing $750 in those older aids and no warranty seems risky to me.

5

I would tend to agree with Doc Jake. Investing that much in discontinued technology with no warranty seems off to me.

Evil.

6

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies, with regards to the cost and no warranty, yes I am wary hence the questions as to if it is worth my while.
The company that would fit them also do an insurance policy from £75 per year for aids up to 5 years old, so i could get this for 2 years and this would cover all incidents etc, but currently I am going to hold off for another month.

Glucas,
I am interested to know how you got the better aids on the NHS as I have another referral to a different Audiologist and ENT as they are going to look at my single ear tinnitus, so i might try and see if i can change.

Thanks

7

Hi Richard,

I just upgraded. On the NHS you are entitled to have a hearing check and upgrade every 3 years, under the AQP (Any qualified provider) regulations. Your GP will know who your AQP is in your area. Of course, what is provided may be something of a post code lottery. Some hospitals will provide the most recent aids available on the NHS catalogue, with accessories as well. As is the case with my local hospital - Hinchingbrook, in Huntingdon, Cambs. However, I have heard of some that do not provide connectline models - those that can connect to streamers - in the case of Oticon.

A good site to ask for information is the UK hearing loss forum:

http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/community/forums/products-and-equipment.aspx?g=posts&t=7024

Good luck.

Graham