HEARINGD AIDS - ADVICE

Brand new to this site and I'm hoping for some advice and/or information. I have NHS hearing aids and have done for about 3 years now. I have found in the last year that my hearing has deteriorated quite a bit but I honestly thought there was a problem with my aids. Sadly not, hearing just getting worse. I was back and forth 3/4 times to see if there was an adjustment required to the aids as I genuinely thought it was the aids at fault. I met with the audiologist 2 weeks ago who changed the plugs that go in your ears from the hearing aids but tbh since then I find my hearing even worse. She also said that this was the last resort that there was no more they could do for me. I came out very disappointed but also quite depressed that NHS can no longer help me. Short of going private and I'm willing to do this how do I make sure that the private aids will be any better than the NHS Phonak ones I have just now? This is my dilemma. Also not sure to use Boots or Specsavers. I just want my hearing to work as best as it can. Any advice please?

Have you gone back to your GP for referral for a consultant checkup, if your hearing has deteriorated then you need to know the reason? Check also if you are in a ICS area that does 'any qualified provider' in which case you could get a referral to Boots or Specsavers for free after your checkup.

Good luck!

Have you tried another provider? Boots tried to sell me private hearing aids, without informing me of the National Health option. I now go to a local Scrivens optician (who do hearing checks). The test was far more in-depth than the Boots test and there were a couple of National Health options. I think there are hundreds of branches throughout the UK.

I have not been back to my GP. Didn't realise it was necessary. My last visit to audiology made me feel I was wasting their time and took my confidence away to go back really.

Have you had a full hearing test done by the audiologist recently and do you have a copy of the audiogram showing your level of hearing loss? You don't mention this in your post so I am not sure if they have even looked in your ears to check for impacted wax etc.

If all this has indeed been done. Then return to your GP and ask their advice. Nobody should just be discarded from NHS audiology with no follow-up.

I have not been back to my GP since I was initially referred 3 years ago. No-one advised me to do this and naturally thought I was now in the hands of Audiology. Yes I recently got another hearing test done at the time that they said they could do no more for me if changing the plugs didn't work. No ear wax at all either. Just really in a quandary.

My mother spent £3000 on aids (through Boots) but soon lost them. Then another £2,500 on some more. She complained about both sets, saying they whistled and didn't help her much.

When in hospital, she was given NHS ones - 'The best I ever had!'

I thought I might need them too, until I had my ear wax removed - and now my hearing's fine.

I'd ask for a second opinion if you have just seen a consultant and ask to see a consultant if you were not seen by one.

Ask them "if I was your mother/aunt/cousin what would you suggest I do?"
Ask them "if you were private rather than NHS would you have more options". "If money was no object is there something else out there - say in America?"...

I think these type of questions often yield more info - and sometimes different options within the NHS.

I was once told "we don't usually do this, but we could..."

Good luck.

Not sure if I can help, and not sure I am giving right advice.
But I know someone who is in the process of likely getting a hearing aid [had a Boots then a NHS test]. [Before she started all that she had wax taken out of her ears, she gets regular ear wax].]But the GP found she had fluid in her middle ear, probably left over having had a virus this year.
She was told that that needs to be sorted first before getting fitted with aids.

So I too would recommend you go the the GP. Just in case.
Hope things get sorted better for you.

I was referred to Specsavers by my GP, and would suggest you ask your GP for a referral. I have very sophisticated NHS hearing aids, and the audiologist at Specsavers I felt was very thorough. Good luck.

Hearing loss needs further investigation via your GP. Don't be fobbed off.

Thanks for all your advice. I have heard conflicting reports about going private or staying NHS. I only want to hear properly that's all I'm asking and just felt I was really 'fobbed-off' with the last visit to audiology. Don't know if she was having a bad day although it was only 9.30 a.m. but I think I shall try my GP again and take it from there. Thank you everyone.

I have had hearing loss for most of my life so I’m fairly familiar with lots of different aids from the days of the box round my neck which just amplified everything 😱 to the tiny sophisticated technology that I have now.

If your assessment was done by an NHS audiologist then I’m pretty sure it will be accurate. You can always ask for a second opinion if your feeling is she was not really competent. It might be worth doing just to set your mind at rest that what you have been told is true.

NHS hearing aids are of comparable quality to any that you buy. They are sometimes a bit behind in advances in technology so in that way some might say private ones are better. A bit like whether you want the latest iPhone.
They can be neater around the ear. Again the cosmetics bother some people. Privately you can get them to match your hair🙂

You may have to come to terms with increased hearing loss. It’s a blow, I know. Obviously Im used to it but I worry about deteriorating eyesight rather than hearing.

Please go back to your GP and ask for another referral. But I truly don’t think you will get any better aids with a commercial company although obviously they will try to convince you that sids you buy will be better.

Update - Managed to get an audiology appointment for yesterday after an impromptu phone call to them on Thursday. Told them over the phone how I was really feeling after my last consultation so they asked me in yesterday. Saw an extremely nice and understanding audiologist who went over my graphs with me (first time) told me my hearing was not 'bad' as I had been told on my last visit. Explained to me exactly how hearing aids work and categorically told me that going for 'private' aids and paying for them was a total waste of money for what support I needed. He was extremely nice, very understanding and put the lobes I had on before which are far better for me than the ones that were put on on my last visit. I also took my hubby so I knew exactly what was being said. I have to say I am feeling better for my visit and of course the outcome. Thank you for advising that I should try and get another referral, it worked. I should just be more ascertive next time!

Perhaps ask for another appointment to explain your hearing is worse with the new aids. Or ask for a 2nd opinion from another audiologist. Sometimes it is known that there is nothing else they can do, but before you embark on the route to private and expensive aids, try alittle more with the NHS. I have always worn hearing aids🦻 and quite recently I have been upgraded to newer models a small bulb like in the ear mold with a smaller aid attached. This are still digital and work with Bluetooth. I also used to work in a audiology department and I know that for some people different aids are more suitable for some and not others.

I remember the box type hearing aids! I haas one from 4 years of age, NHS aids have advanced and become better with technology, mine are compatible with Bluetooth. Recent theatre shows especially comedy have been a godsend. You do have to check with the theatre if Wi-Fi is working with these type of aids. 🦻🦻 just discovered this emoji. Love it