No joke, I'm going to the doctor in a few weeks for testing. It's getting about time. I'm not old, but the steel work, range work, and construction work, have really done a number.

Rush Limbaugh discussed his hearing loss problems one day. He said hearing loss is the only handicap that the affected person is blamed for. Like they aren't listening hard enough.

I have minimal hearing loss, that my wife makes a point of if I don't hear her every now and then when she thinks I should. After Rush talked about people's lack of sympathy about hearing loss, I decided to call my wife on it. I told her she needed to be more sympathetic about it if she expected the same about her night vision and driving. She hasn't said anything about it since.

No Cotscos in my area

Far too much $$.
Refuse to pay almost $11K for a pair.
Simply turn up tv volume, wear double hearing protection at the range and do a bit of lip reading.
Silence is golden.

Look for a place that sells Starkey or Phonak hearing aids, you'll have to call a number of places most likely, or hit their home page. There are, I believe, only 4 manufacturers in this country. The big name hustlers are re-labeled and marked WAY up. A very good quality of Starkeys cost about 2500 bucks, and Costco has the Phonak deal which is great. In most areas public clinics will provide them through some type of worker's comp system, if your loss is work related.

Sadly, no Costco in Maine.

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
Rush Limbaugh discussed his hearing loss problems one day. He said hearing loss is the only handicap that the affected person is blamed for. Like they aren't listening hard enough.

I have minimal hearing loss, that my wife makes a point of if I don't hear her every now and then when she thinks I should. After Rush talked about people's lack of sympathy about hearing loss, I decided to call my wife on it. I told her she needed to be more sympathetic about it if she expected the same about her night vision and driving. She hasn't said anything about it since.

I’ve had this same conversation with my wife more than once, but I still get blamed for things I can’t hear. I’ve yet to convince anyone, ENT or my wife that hearing aids might help. The worst thing is that it sometimes takes three or four times of repeating something to understand my four year old daughter.

Sean

quote:

Originally posted by Sevo1967:
I’ve had this same conversation with my wife more than once, but I still get blamed for things I can’t hear. I’ve yet to convince anyone, ENT or my wife that hearing aids might help. The worst thing is that it sometimes takes three or four times of repeating something to understand my four year old daughter.

During my conversation with the audiologist, and showing me the results of the test, the common problem is a falling off of high-frequency response. This is caused by the "balding" (her word) of the inner ear cilia, which are hairs that are sound receptors. Not only do we get balder on the outside, it also happens on the inside!

One affect of this degradation of our hearing is that certain sound patterns are heard less. Of these, she mentioned, were "female voices" as they tend to be "softer." Of course my response was, "you mean if I was married I could justify not hearing my wife?"

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I need them badly, have for years, but can't bring myself to part with that much cash.

Last time I checked, I fell into the VA's Catch 22 and made too much retirement to qualify.

Is it possible that your hearing loss is service-related (like working on loud equipment prior to them starting to use protection)? If so, have someone prepare the paperwork for submission. My father did this some years back, and he now gets hearing aids via the VA.

quote:

Originally posted by SigSAC:

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
I need them badly, have for years, but can't bring myself to part with that much cash.

Last time I checked, I fell into the VA's Catch 22 and made too much retirement to qualify.

Is it possible that your hearing loss is service-related (like working on loud equipment prior to them starting to use protection)? If so, have someone prepare the paperwork for submission. My father did this some years back, and he now gets hearing aids via the VA.

Possible? Yes. Worked in rooms chockablock full of electronics and the noise of bay blowers was constant.

Proveable/Documentable? I doubt it. Worth a shot tho.

My hearing loss motivated my retirement. I cant hear anything high pitch:
Birds - I miss that.
Kids voices - I am ok with that.
Electronic beepy things - No problem.
Cell phone must be on vibrate - no problem.
Women's voices - At last! A benefit!
Background noise - If present, I am deaf.
Noisy rooms or crowds - Also deaf.

The VA gave me state of the art digital hearing aids. Seem to work fine but I cant get used to them, especially on windy days.
Good luck!

at 60 , I have started to look for an apt on the first floor .

I have found three of them , but they are $200,00
a month more ( so that ain't happening)

it would be cheaper to buy a winch and have it pull me up.

quote:

Originally posted by Sevo1967:

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
Rush Limbaugh discussed his hearing loss problems one day. He said hearing loss is the only handicap that the affected person is blamed for. Like they aren't listening hard enough.

I have minimal hearing loss, that my wife makes a point of if I don't hear her every now and then when she thinks I should. After Rush talked about people's lack of sympathy about hearing loss, I decided to call my wife on it. I told her she needed to be more sympathetic about it if she expected the same about her night vision and driving. She hasn't said anything about it since.

I’ve had this same conversation with my wife more than once, but I still get blamed for things I can’t hear. I’ve yet to convince anyone, ENT or my wife that hearing aids might help. The worst thing is that it sometimes takes three or four times of repeating something to understand my four year old daughter.

Sean

If you've got a four year old, do not delay and get some help. Don't suffer a decade or two of your child's formative years.

I got Costco hearing aids at age 44. It's nice. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better.

I do get frustrated when my family laughs at me when I don't understand what they've said. They laugh harder when I repeat back what I thought they've said - it usually an incoherent sentence. Not a real confidence booster.

quote:

Originally posted by Russ59:

quote:

Originally posted by Sevo1967:

quote:

Originally posted by pbslinger:
Rush Limbaugh discussed his hearing loss problems one day. He said hearing loss is the only handicap that the affected person is blamed for. Like they aren't listening hard enough.

I have minimal hearing loss, that my wife makes a point of if I don't hear her every now and then when she thinks I should. After Rush talked about people's lack of sympathy about hearing loss, I decided to call my wife on it. I told her she needed to be more sympathetic about it if she expected the same about her night vision and driving. She hasn't said anything about it since.

I’ve had this same conversation with my wife more than once, but I still get blamed for things I can’t hear. I’ve yet to convince anyone, ENT or my wife that hearing aids might help. The worst thing is that it sometimes takes three or four times of repeating something to understand my four year old daughter.

Sean

If you've got a four year old, do not delay and get some help. Don't suffer a decade or two of your child's formative years.

I got Costco hearing aids at age 44. It's nice. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better.

I do get frustrated when my family laughs at me when I don't understand what they've said. They laugh harder when I repeat back what I thought they've said - it usually an incoherent sentence. Not a real confidence booster.

Thanks, that’s good advice. I think I’ll follow it.

Sean

Good luck with your AIDS.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Possible? Yes. Worked in rooms chockablock full of electronics and the noise of bay blowers was constant.

Proveable/Documentable? I doubt it. Worth a shot tho.

Several organizations will help run your interview and document things (VFW, for example). I've heard that some organizations have people at some of the VA clinics to assist.

Here is one link at the VFW:

https://www.vfw.org/assistance...-separation-benefits

Also, here is the Maine Bureau of Veterans' Services page on claims:

http://www.maine.gov/veterans/.../why-file-claim.html

Try to have a timeframe for each of your duty stations, as well as the work done at those times. Even estimates of times of duty help.

Dad had been out of the service many years before being prodded by someone to check into the claim process. He had already gotten evaluated within his medical plan after retiring from his second career, but went anyway. They go through the entire history, then send it off. At some point, you'll get an examination that gets filed with the claim for determination. Dad's work early in his career was aircraft - flying early (WWII), then maintenance. Most of it was before hearing protection was considered normal.

I'll point out that it isn't fast - can take 4-8 months for the determination depending on workload in your region. The determination, if positive, will take effect as of the date you filed the claim. If compensation is determined, that will start as of application day as well.

I look forward to "hearing" your experience.