Phonak vs. bernafon

Hearing Aids
, ,
#1

greetings :slight_smile: reading through some of these threads I realize it might be helpful if I knew exactly the results of my hearing tests. But I can say that that my results for the word recognition test using the CID (in a male’s voice since I have more loss in higher frequencies) were 36% correct at 110dB in my right ear and 0% correct at 115dB in my left ear, basically unresponsive. i have otosclerosis and cochlear otosclerosis so I have conductive hearing loss and nerve damage. my hearing loss is…quite profound.

Anyway I was recommended Phonak’s, not sure the model, but i also have a Costco membership and I was wondering if the Bernafon brands would be powerful enough. i asked the lady there today, who is not the actual audiologist just a hearing aid specialist, if they would work as well for me as the Phonaks. All she really told me is that they have brands for much cheaper. Well I KNOW that, but would they work as well for me?

Also i am a massage therapist so most of the time I am not in a noisey environment but when the client is face down on the table it’s impossible to understand them and communication between us is really important.

#2

I think with the loss you have your going to need premium aids and your going to need a lot of power, so maybe Phonak Naida UP will work for you. I don’t think Costco is going to have anything with the power you are going to need.
Did you go to an ENT for your last hearing test? Have they recommended surgery for the Otosclerosis?

#3

Yes I did. They’ve referred me to to an otologist at SCMU but I don’t have insurance. So while I’d like to discuss having my stapeds bone replaced, an auiologist last year said if I did that I’d probably still need to wear HAs, vs a cochlear implant that will be sometime off. For now I just need some aides that will help. Right now I have an Oticon Tego Pro, but it’s maxed out and still barely helps.

#4

Costco has the Rexton Bridge which goes up to an 80Db gain model. It has the wireless communication ability so you can add accessories like a bluetooth phone device and tv transmitters.

#5

I admitedly don’t know much about hearing aids, which is why I’m on here. but if I only got 36% word recognition correct at 110dB, would 80 really help me?? doesn’t sound like it.

#6

That’s gain, you add that to the input signal.

#7

So, if you had speech at 50 Db and it was boosted 80, it would probably be too loud for you to stand.

#8

There hearing aides at Costco I was recommended are the Bernafon Xtreme and Chronos.

#9

You may just have to try them to see which ones work best for you. There is a 90 day trial period at Costco.

The Chronos is top of the line so if it is strong enough it would have more features than the Xtreme. Does the Xtreme work with accessories (bluetooth phone and tv transmitters) like the Chronos and the Rexton Bridge do?

The Xtreme has as much power as the Bridge, but I don’t see where it says anything about bluetooth and such.

Maybe you could try the Chronos first and if it works well and has enough power then you don’t have to make the Bridge/Xtreme decision.

#10

Thanks! I’m scheduled for a demo for the Chronos on June 4th. But I’m getting a little impatient to hear lol. Plus I was wondering if i was wasting more time waiting for Costco if they weren’t likely to powerful enough for me anyway. I tried one of the Phonaks and it was awesome. The audiolosgist wants, me to try wearing one in my left ear, my “bad one” and it’s now a profound to no response hearing loss. The right is profound, I’m just afraid of running into the same problem with the Costco one I ran into with the Oticon Tego Pro, losing more hearing and the aid not having enough to power to be turned up more. The things are expensive, I want them to last me a bit :smiley:

#11

Nice, I’ll add the Xtreme to the list.

#12

I found another hearing/hearing aid forum…alldeaf.com, and I found similair threads to this one I made. Going by comments on there nothing at Costco is going to be nearly powerful enough for me. I was very disappointed with Bernafons website, it was not very informative at all. Had nothing about which hearing aids are better for different levels of hearing loss and no information about their special features. i was on Phonaks website also, lots of information especially about their Sound Recover. One person said Costco hearing aids are fine for mild to severe hearing loss but not for profound. My right ear is profound and my left is profound to no response. I’ll still be going to try the demo for the Chronos but I’m not feeling very hopeful about it.

#13

don’t know about their other brands… but their Rexton Cobalt 16 / Kirklands w/HP receivers and molds will go about and strong as any out there.

#14

I wonder why those weren’t mentioned to me, just the Chronos and Xtreme, I wonder if the aids they carry differ by area. I’m in Myrtle Beach SC

#15

Just got back from Costco. He said the only aid he had that can handle my loss is the Xtremes. He programmed one and we gave it a whirl…not good. He had it turned up to almost the limit of it’s power and i got wicked feedback. He said another aid I might try is Starky Destiny. haven’t googled it yet.

edited to add: I had him give me the results of my hearing test so I’m going to put them in my signature :slight_smile:

#16

And now I’m really confused because on Starky’s website their BTE are for mild to severe hearing loss…even the power pluses, which just sounds odd, shouldn’t that be for profound?

#17

How about Phonak Niada UP? Several people on the Forum with losses similar to yours use them.

#18

I have an appointment next monday to go back to the audiologist who recommended the Phonaks in the first place, I’m just not sure what model they were, if they were naidas, they must have been SP’s because they took a size 13 battery. We didn’t try anything for my left ear, because I didn’t already have a mold for it. I haven’t worn a HA in that ear in like 6 years. The audiologists thinks I should try it, I doubt seriously i would get any speech out of it, but it may help with environmental sounds. I would think for that ear i’d need an UP though not an SP. I suppose it could have been an Ambra or Dalia maybe, I have no idea.

#19

IMHO you’re out of the range of the Costco aids, perhaps the Naida also. Consider the Oticon Sumo or something similar.

#20

Well I just got back from the audiologist and found out exactly which Phonak HA he was suggesting. The Ambra SP’s…not sure why he chose those over the Naidas, since they’re more for power. I’m still in range of the Ambras, are they better at, I don’t know how to put this, fine tuning speech so you can understand it better vs.the Naidas? Is it like a power vs control thing? I’m wondering if it’s possible I lost more hearing between the test I had in January (which is the one this audilogist is going by) and the test I had last monday at Costco, which is the results in my siggy.