which hearing aids work for profound loss?

[MachineGhost]

Not being offered a trial is complete B.S.. See my signature for perspective on how the Xtreme and Naida UP ranks.

[prodigyplace]

Originally Posted by MachineGhost

Not being offered a trial is complete B.S.. See my signature for perspective on how the Xtreme and Naida UP ranks.

If the user is in the US, I believe all states mandate a minimum trial period for hearing aids.

[dislab]

Thanks again for all the info. I plan to go to another Costco to get earmolds as well as some high power hearing aids (this one is closer to my home than the one I visited last time). The only thing is that it is hard to schedule an appointment within one or two weeks, although I doubt if the specialists there are busy all day long. I'll just drop by and try my luck.

I asked the same question at alldeaf.com, and most people there suggest to see audiologists intead of Costco. Is it true that audiologists are better than Costco?

[seb]

Costco hearing centers are usually pretty busy or at least the ones near me, I'd schedule an appointment and ask them to call if there is a cancelation.

[Don]

Originally Posted by dislab

Thanks again for all the info. I plan to go to another Costco to get earmolds as well as some high power hearing aids (this one is closer to my home than the one I visited last time). The only thing is that it is hard to schedule an appointment within one or two weeks, although I doubt if the specialists there are busy all day long. I'll just drop by and try my luck.

I asked the same question at alldeaf.com, and most people there suggest to see audiologists intead of Costco. Is it true that audiologists are better than Costco?

It's not either/or. Costco does employ audiologists. I've had good results at Costco and my Costco audiologist is great. But, see for yourself. They have a 90 day trial.

[dislab]

Update 06/09:

We went to Costco today (not the one we went last time as this one is closer), and we are ready to purchase hearing aids. The specialist had my father try a Kirkland hearing aid, and said that's the best he has. There is another more powerful Kirkland, but he said he has never got good fitting results from it. Unfortunately, but somewhat expected, with this hearing aids, my father can understand some words, but not the whole sentence. The specialist suggests us to try the conventional body style hearing aids with external receiver before making a purchase at Costco, and said that's designed for this type of profound hearing loss and more powerful as it is much bigger. He mentioned Oticon, Widex, and Phonak. i am going to find some local providers and see if these work better. If not, I will go back to Costco to buy the kirkland, as hearing something is better than nothing.

[DocAudio]

Originally Posted by dislab

Update 06/09:

We went to Costco today (not the one we went last time as this one is closer), and we are ready to purchase hearing aids. The specialist had my father try a Kirkland hearing aid, and said that's the best he has. There is another more powerful Kirkland, but he said he has never got good fitting results from it. Unfortunately, but somewhat expected, with this hearing aids, my father can understand some words, but not the whole sentence. The specialist suggests us to try the conventional body style hearing aids with external receiver before making a purchase at Costco, and said that's designed for this type of profound hearing loss and more powerful as it is much bigger. He mentioned Oticon, Widex, and Phonak. i am going to find some local providers and see if these work better. If not, I will go back to Costco to buy the kirkland, as hearing something is better than nothing.

Are you sure he said a BODY aid??? I haven't fit a body aid in probably 11 years...I'm not even sure who makes them anymore - I know Phonak and Widex do not...although I believe the one I fit in 2000 might have been a Widex one. But that was 12 years ago.

Perhaps he meant a Behind-the-ear hearing aid...but a more powerful one? Widex has the most powerful BTE on the market that I know of. The Naida S UP by Phonak offers quite a bit of power and he might benefit from the Sound Recover feature if his speech clarity is really poor. Depending on his speech scores and severity of loss, don't expect to find a hearing aid where he can understand everything clearly. The hearing aid can sound amazing but ultimately it's traveling along a damaged auditory system and potentially into processing centers of the brain that could also be functioning at less-that-ideal levels.

[IMBack]

Originally Posted by dislab

Update 06/09:

We went to Costco today (not the one we went last time as this one is closer), and we are ready to purchase hearing aids. The specialist had my father try a Kirkland hearing aid, and said that's the best he has. There is another more powerful Kirkland, but he said he has never got good fitting results from it. Unfortunately, but somewhat expected, with this hearing aids, my father can understand some words, but not the whole sentence. The specialist suggests us to try the conventional body style hearing aids with external receiver before making a purchase at Costco, and said that's designed for this type of profound hearing loss and more powerful as it is much bigger. He mentioned Oticon, Widex, and Phonak. i am going to find some local providers and see if these work better. If not, I will go back to Costco to buy the kirkland, as hearing something is better than nothing.

tell the AD you want to trial the more powerful unit. that's why Costco has their much advertised 90 day trial. So, you can try them! Did the AD at the first Costco seem a little brighter?

[dislab]

Originally Posted by DocAudio

Are you sure he said a BODY aid??? I haven't fit a body aid in probably 11 years...I'm not even sure who makes them anymore - I know Phonak and Widex do not...although I believe the one I fit in 2000 might have been a Widex one. But that was 12 years ago.

Perhaps he meant a Behind-the-ear hearing aid...but a more powerful one? Widex has the most powerful BTE on the market that I know of. The Naida S UP by Phonak offers quite a bit of power and he might benefit from the Sound Recover feature if his speech clarity is really poor. Depending on his speech scores and severity of loss, don't expect to find a hearing aid where he can understand everything clearly. The hearing aid can sound amazing but ultimately it's traveling along a damaged auditory system and potentially into processing centers of the brain that could also be functioning at less-that-ideal levels.

Yes, body style, he even spelled "body" for me. i am surprised to hear that initially, but he explained that the separation of the amplifier and the receiver makes it more powerful in processing the voice. My father has a profound loss (in my signature), and our expectation is not high. If my father can understand some words, we are happy.

There are different products under each brand. Do you know which products I should consider for each of the three: Oticon, Widex, and Phonak? Should they be Oticon Sumo, Widex Super, Phonak Naida S UP? How can I find reliable providers? Thanks a lot!

[dislab]

Originally Posted by IMBack

tell the AD you want to trial the more powerful unit. that's why Costco has their much advertised 90 day trial. So, you can try them! Did the AD at the first Costco seem a little brighter?

The specialist we met today looks more experienced, and he tried to do some fitting using a pair of kirkland hearing aids. He said Costco hearing aids deals with moderate hearing loss, but not very good on profound loss. I like Costco due to its nice policy. Most other places charge restocking fee. But if the other brands are much better than Kirkland, we'll definitely buy it, which may be much more expensive than Costco.