In the ear hearing aid or behind the ear hearing aid, which is better?

This is why I’m a huge fan of GN - information! I’ve had 2 NHS hearing aids for 10 years and juggle them with Wi-Fi headphones or avoiding some things totally, now I know Bluetooth hearing aids are available on the NHS and will solve a number of my problems. I didn’t know! I’m waiting to hear if they’re available in my areas. Thank you lovely people ❤️

DS1 and DiL got fed up with my denial that I was hard of hearing. So they made an appointment at Boots where the audiologist confirmed their opinion. So now I have outrageously expensive but very effective hearing aids and the TV is no longer at maximum volume. I have the in-ear devices with the receiver/transmitters behind my ears and find them perfectly comfortable. With Bluetooth I can listen to the radio from my phone and answer the phone even while I'm driving. Regrettably, they haven't managed to cancel out my mild but irritating tinnitus.

I recently got new hearing aids and declined the Bluetooth option as I use neither mobile phone (except for messages and photographs) nor landline phone (costs too much)
My new aids have a mould in my ears rather than a tube and dome. They stay put much better but are fiddly to put in and, weeks later, I still hear all the background noises and my own voice sounds muffled.
I HATE the beastly things!

rocketstop

So..how big are the devices you get on NHS these days are they still as big as say..half a 50p piece or have thwy made them smaller and better ?

NHS hearing aids look the same as private hearing aids. I've had both.

tattygran14 - that is terrible. If you haven't already get in touch with your council. If no joy then get in touch with your local MP and failing any joy there local reporter to get them to hear...pun intended.

Hopefully they'll cut it back soon. Heaven knows we have plenty of cut backs else where.

they not thwy !

So..how big are the devices you get on NHS these days are they still as big as say..half a 50p piece or have thwy made them smaller and better ?

God bless hearing aids! I do not have or need them, yet(?) but have many friends who do wear them. The beauty of that is you cannot even tell they have them.

All styles are good - in the ear, behind the ear and those in the wings of your eyeglasses (where the wire enters your ear). Unfortunately, I understand, all styles are costly.

Rely on the advice of your audiologist for the device you need for one ear (or both) and make sure you do not purchase the least expensive for you will be sorry.
Batteries ain’t cheap, either!
USA Gundy

Thank you I had no idea I could get a disabled persons Railcard, well done Gransnet posters

I wondered about connecting mine to our smart TV. Apparently we need a special box costing around £400 for this. I use subtles as much as possible but this is only possible on "live" programmes. If you restart a programme or watch them later, the subtitles don't work.

i have been wearing behind ear hearing ide for over 10 years now and they are NHS (cant afford to buy ) and one thing is a must aids you can turn up or down depending on the situation mine are also rechargeable which i charge over night and they last all day no more getting caught out by battery running out

Just reading through all these comments, wonder if anyone can advise me how to connect my bluetooth aids to the tv. DH has tried in vain but can't seem to get them connected. We have a new SMART tv and thought the connection would have been easy but still struggling. Any helpers?

Went to Specsavers, top of the range, behind the ear, charge overnight. Then last 15 hours ithink. Good luck. Wouldn’t be without them. Still miss a lot, its called being deaf.

Related to the topic under discussion, yes, we can buy a disabled rail card, but at the moment, due to the local council not pruning a huge tree, I can only access tv via the internet. So, no current tv at all, as the satellite signal is blocked. I am profoundly deaf, and therefore all I have from the BBC is iPlayer. No radio, no music, and at the moment no live tv. I am still charged for a full tv license however. Being deaf is very isolating, costs money, and there are very few concessions.

My husband has recently needed hearing aids and the treatment he has had from the NHS has been excellent. He doesn't have much hair but his behind the ear hearing aids are so discreet.
I was a Teacher of the Deaf before I retired and hearing aids have improved so much since then.

There seems to be some confusion in terminology. I assume the OP is referring to behind the ear (BTE) and receiver in the ear (RITE). The main difference is that the RITE Devices is that the sound is transmitted electronically from the case to the speaker in the ear canal. They look similar to BTE Devices but are significantly smaller. In my experience, the NHS supplies both types, but I did not get on with the BTE ones. I now have the mini RITE ones and they are brilliant with Bluetooth connectivity and various programs for different environments accessed through the app. At the moment, rechargeable ones aren’t available to me on the NHS, but I find the batteries last several days with constant wear. I would however always advise anyone to do their own research.

I have been wearing private in the ear hearing aids for 25years.
Have cost me thousands of pounds over the years. They suit me fine . Hearing not 100% but ok. I’m tempted to switch to NHS Bluetooth but lengthy waiting times in my area.

My OH has in the ear ones which work well. The NHS is obviously preferable but it didn't work out. A long wait then not enough personal help getting started and adjusting. Private audiologist was immediate and far better, several help sessions but much more expensive of course. Also the NHS ones were battery powered - much more fiddly for a non-techie - whereas the private ones just drop into a charger unit overnight.

Nobody mentions the distortion of music caused by hearing aids ( in my case behind the ear NHS ones.) I am only interested in " "classical" music, including film music but through the aids this sounds muffled and rather crude. In addition, though Volume is no problem, distinguishing speech in any large room with high ceilings as the sound seems to bounce off the walls above the speaker. This is a real problem in my Quaker meeting where many extempore speakers have dodgy or indistinct enunciation. TV and film is only enjoyed and understandable if accompanied by subtitles. Any thing from America does not have these.
It is a great disappointment not to be able to follow the train of thought where the speaker may be explaining an important insight. If in a lecture hall with a speaker at the front, similar problems arise if the lecturer moves around or turns away toward a screen. In my local hospital, they told me I am only entitled to a change of aids every six years. In a smaller room with only a few people, I can hear pretty well as long as they all look at one another.

jannipans I wear behind the ear hearing aids which are rechargeable - I pop them in the egg shaped canister overnight and they’re all charged and ready to go in the morning. A small difference but after years of fiddling about with batteries a real joy to use. Generally I was advised that in ear aids are fine with mild loss but behind the ear much better for moderate to severe loss.

I got my aids from a local optician as the wait for Specsavers was months, and Boots kept ringing my and delaying my appointment.

I have NHS aids, cos I'm a skinflint, my only issue is that whilst they pair with my phone, only for volume control, My Android phone is the wrong model for anything else.

I have onesided deafness for over 20 yrs and have worn a hearing aid in one ear for 10 yrs. I went with Specsavers and got a discount for only taking one and later replaced it with two for the same ear so have a 'spare'. I tried the fancier bluetooth type which also had rechargeable batteries but I returned them and got the cheaper one. My phone at the time did not support the model of hearing aid so I could not use the App that might adjust volume. The bluetooth worked nicely but I get few phonecalls so did not rate it for myself. People seem to message thesedays. It was good for listening to podcasts but I have earpods that do that as well into my good ear.

Oh, and I have a disabled person’s railcard. £54 for three years and 1/3 off the fares. My husband is eligible for a senior citizen’s railcard (l have a little over a year to go) but doesn’t need one as he can accompany me, as CrazyGrandma2 mentioned upthread.

It depends on the size of your ear canal as much as anything else. I have very narrow ear canals and have only recently been able to have a bulb that is small enough on the tubing for my right ear and I have a mould for my left ear as two mastoid operations have meant that this is more effective for me. In the ear aids are too large for me. My NHS bte aids are fantastic. They are very small these days and Bluetooth is amazing. I wouldn’t be without them.

I have hearing aids but don't wear them as the batteries run out so quickly it drives me insane! Are there any that have longer lasting batteries?