A friend of the family who was a vet passed away. He had VA-provided Phonak hearing aids. The VA told her to keep them or donate them. She knows I've been dealing with hearing loss for years and was kind enough to donate them to me.

So, my questions are:

1. I'm assuming they can be cleaned and retuned to match my issues. Yes? No? Depends on the model?

2. Assuming that they can be made to work for me, who do I go to to have it done? My first guess would be the VA. I'll rummage around and try to find a point of contact for the VA Hospital here in Maine.

Thanks for any input.

If they are like the ones I got from the VA then yes the ends that go into the ear can be cleaned. There are two pieces on that end. A dark colored rubber cup that once removed you will see a white "filter" (at least those are the colors on mine). I would think that a "reputable" hearing aid dealer should be able to get those parts and hopefully adjust the volume to what you need.

Yes, they can be re-purposed for you.

Your first question, the inserts that go into your ear should be very easy to replace, and very inexpensive. I got my hearing aids from Costco, and they replace the domes (the part that goes into your ear) whenever I ask them to, at no cost. I replace them either when they start to look a bit dirty, or when they become less flexible with age. Maybe four or five times a year.

Second question: Any audiologist / hearing aid dispenser person can do this. The process in general, they test you, make a graph of your hearing loss at various frequencies, then adjust the frequency response of the hearing aids per the graph. Think of an audio equalizer and you'll get the picture.

As I said, it can be done by just about any audiologist, the trick is to find one that won't charge you an arm and a leg. Costco verified for me, if I were to pass my Costco hearing aids to a friend who is a Costco customer, Costco would do the "re-fitting" for the recipient at no charge.

Costco does sell Phonak hearing aids, so you might check at a Costco store if you can get to one. Might or might not be easier, logistically, than the VA. Also, make it a point to visit a Costco if you can, to stock up on batteries. Current pricing is 48 batteries for $8.49. Best of my knowledge you can't get close to that anywhere else.

WTF? For the first time EVER, your rooster has stopped marching. Never saw that before.

The comet?

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
A friend of the family who was a vet passed away. He had VA-provided Phonak hearing aids. The VA told her to keep them or donate them. She knows I've been dealing with hearing loss for years and was kind enough to donate them to me.
So, my questions are:
1. I'm assuming they can be cleaned and retuned to match my issues. Yes? No? Depends on the model?
2. Assuming that they can be made to work for me, who do I go to to have it done? My first guess would be the VA. I'll rummage around and try to find a point of contact for the VA Hospital here in Maine.
Thanks for any input.

Do you normally use the VA for your medical care?

quote:

Vtail posted: Second question: Any audiologist / hearing aid dispenser person can do this.

Yep.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
WTF? For the first time EVER, your rooster has stopped marching. Never saw that before.

The comet?

I see it marching. Time to see your optometrist?

Okay, thanks all.

No Costco in Maine unfortunately.

I'm assuming (and we all know where that gets you) that the VA would be a cheaper way to go than a "commercial" audiologist, but I agree that paying a local pro would be a lot less hassle.

I have an email in to the Maine Bureau of Veteran's Services with the appropriate questions. I'll let y'all know how it works out.

quote:

Originally posted by KMitch200:

Do you normally use the VA for your medical care?

No, my income is above their cutoff level currently. Plus it's about a 2 hour trip to the clinic.

I just used their website to find a place for my mom to have a repair locally, she is visiting us from out of state right now.

https://www.phonak.com/us/en.html/

I called the three closet locations that popped up on the phonak site. Went to the one that had over 50 - 5 star google reviews, about 20 minute drive.

Did an appt. Walked in and out with repairs for $50. Was quoted $100 when I set appt from my description of concern.

Good luck and nice gift. Mom is much easier to talk to when she is wearing them.

I have been wearing "aids" for probably 12 years. (thanks to all those hours on rifle, machine gun, rocket launcher, mortar ranges, not to mention 90MM tank gunnery.)

First & second set came from Miracle Ear, very expensive.

Third set came from Costco. Phonaks. Love them, and all adjustments, etc are free as are the stuff for normal maintenance.

Was having a problem with one of them, went to Costco about it. Not a complaint! They checked out the aids and said they would have to send them in for repair, take 4-5 days.

2 days later I get a call to come in. Went in and they had a completely new set to replace the old ones, NO COST!

I stopped by a Phonak-affiliated hearing center today and asked a few questions.

Two issues came up that do not bode well for my idea:

1. They don't deal with used hearing aids unless you bought it from them (sales pitch).

2. Hearing aids over 4-6 years old are usually not worth messing with as technology changes so quickly. This makes sense to me. The box I have is marked 2/2011, so they're 7 years old.

Obviously, I'll need a current hearing test. If I get a referral from my primary care doc (which I can't imagine being a problem) they can do the test and bill Medicare. Unfortunately that's ALL Medicare will cover is the test.

I'll check the other provider in this area to see if I get the same story, plus I've got inquiries in to the VA to see if they have any options.

File another VA claim... They never asked me what my income was. They just determined that my hearing loss was service connected.