DOES ANYONE USED THE CROSSOVER HEARING AIDS OR KNOW ANYONE THAT DOES? JUST WONDERING HOW WELL IT WORKS AND IF THEY ARE WORTH THE INVESTMENT. THANKS
I don't have a crossover. I was able to get a standard (even "entry level) hearing aid that has helped my hearing significantly. I have bad lower register loss, down at -60; and actually only one "tone" that I still hear perfectly. But the standard hearing aid that I purchased works fine for me. It does not have all the bells and whistles but I only need to hear! LOL
I do. They work but i cant say i like it. I have very good hearing in one ear and none in the other so in a quiet place i hear just fine unless you whisper in my deaf ear. The cros aid really does not work in a noisy restaurant type place. I dont think anything does. It works ok in some situations but i am not very tolerant of things like watches, jewelry and so forth and i dont like wearing an aide. If my heating were worse i would probably be grateful for it. You get a 30 day free trial with most so you could try before you buy although there might be a restocking fee.
I am in the same boat as June. I have them and they make a little bit of a difference, but after wearing them for a full day at work, I find both ears very fatigued--yes, even the deaf one. June is spot on about restaurants and social events. I was in Manhattan a couple of weeks ago out to dinner with 10 people and I may as well have been by myself. I couldn't follow or participate in any conversation. If you turn the aids up, it only makes all the background noise louder, which is what is preventing you from hearing conversations in the first place. However I do find them helpful in meetings at work where my input is required. It does take a lot of adjustment at the audiologist to get them performing the most effectively. Expect 3-5 "tweaking" visits if you get them. All in all, I'm glad I got them for the reason I needed them most, but I'm not a huge fan of wearing them all of the time as the hearing in my good ear is still fairly normal.
My dr thinks the sound byte aid that goes on your tooth ($8000 last i checked) and baha (implanted in skull) work better. I have not tried either.
Kevin, how much was your cross over hearing aid? I sure will not be doing the $8,000 implant. I am trying to decide whether or not it would be a good investment or not. I know it won't work in crowded places like restaurants but I work in a Dr. licenses office and I have desks on both sides of me processing customers and all the people in the waiting room noise and I am concerned that would be too much background noise for the hearing aid to be affective. I don't know that I want to spend that much money on something just to wear at home?
$8000 is for the sound byte hearing aide that fits on a tooth but is not an implant. Mosst insurance does not cover it. The baha is an implant and costs more than that but is often covered by insurance. That is my understanding anyway. My phonak cros was about $2000 all told for both aids. Costco does not do a cros.
I also have the Phonak Bi Cros system and it was $2,700. Best to shop around, though: I also had an estimate for the same system for $5,200. Good luck!
I got my phonak bicros aids from an audiologist for @$2000. That included a free trial of 30 days and some adjustments. They came with a one year guarantee and they did go bad within the year. The company did replace the electronics on them.