First, hearing aids are, unfortunately, not covered by most Americans' health insurance. I'm completely deaf in one ear, and in the other ear I'm profoundly deaf (basically as deaf as you can get without being totally deaf). An OTC hearing aid is simply not powerful enough to help me. I have to go to an audiologist, and as another poster said, these kinds of hearing aids routinely run into $3000-5000 range PER AID. If I needed it for both ears, I could be out 6-10 grand alone. And no insurance I've ever had will cover it.
Second, and probably the more relevant reason, is that most people who need hearing aids are people who have had "normal" hearing their entire lives, and have simply noticed some degradation of hearing over time. They've gone their entire lives without having something in their ear all day long. Now they go get a hearing aid, they put it in their ear, and you know what? It's uncomfortable.
It's not fun. It's annoying. Your ear sweats. You don't realize it if you don't wear hearing aids, but your ear sweats. Your hearing aid squishes around. It feels like something's stuck in your ear -- because it is!
When your jaw moves, you can sometimes hear it. You can hear yourself eat. Crunchy food is louder than anything else.
For someone who hasn't had to deal with it their entire lives like I have, it's awful. It's not a pleasant experience. And why should you wear something uncomfortable like that when you can just turn the TV up as loud as it goes?
It's a real problem, and I'm not sure there's a true way out of it.
That said... the advances in hearing aid technology in the last 25 years are astounding. They used to just be microphones that amplified noise. Then in the late 90s, they introduced digital hearing aids. In the mid-teens, they introduced Bluetooth integration. I now don't need to wear clunky headphones -- I can stream directly from my iPhone or computer straight to my hearing aid with no loss in fidelity of sound! It's quite frankly incredible.
My audiologist sent me an email last week because the newer models are now water-proof. Up until now, I've had to take my hearing aid out to shower, to go outside in the rain, to swim. Now? I can do all of those things and actually hear. Showering with my partner might actually be sexy instead of silent. Swimming with friends might become a social activity instead of me having to choose between sitting outside the pool with my hearing aid on and participating in conversation, or getting into the pool with my hearing aid out and being unable hear anything.
I'm sure soon enough they'll introduce some other really clever technology. Maybe direct integrations with an AI assistant. Maybe AI-powered translation software a la the babel fish of Hitchhiker's Guide fame. Who knows? The sky's the limit.
But for now? For OTC stuff? For Grandma and Grandpa who can't hear the TV? They aren't going to buy it, because it's uncomfortable, it's expensive, and they'd have to admit to everyone around them that they're less than they were before. It's sad.
Question for you - who's offering a waterproof UP hearing aid? I know Siemens had one for a while, but they discontinued it several years ago. My partner is profoundly deaf in one ear and completely deaf in the other as you are, and loves swimming.
First, hearing aids are, unfortunately, not covered by most Americans' health insurance. I'm completely deaf in one ear, and in the other ear I'm profoundly deaf (basically as deaf as you can get without being totally deaf). An OTC hearing aid is simply not powerful enough to help me. I have to go to an audiologist, and as another poster said, these kinds of hearing aids routinely run into $3000-5000 range PER AID. If I needed it for both ears, I could be out 6-10 grand alone. And no insurance I've ever had will cover it.
Second, and probably the more relevant reason, is that most people who need hearing aids are people who have had "normal" hearing their entire lives, and have simply noticed some degradation of hearing over time. They've gone their entire lives without having something in their ear all day long. Now they go get a hearing aid, they put it in their ear, and you know what? It's uncomfortable.
It's not fun. It's annoying. Your ear sweats. You don't realize it if you don't wear hearing aids, but your ear sweats. Your hearing aid squishes around. It feels like something's stuck in your ear -- because it is!
When your jaw moves, you can sometimes hear it. You can hear yourself eat. Crunchy food is louder than anything else.
For someone who hasn't had to deal with it their entire lives like I have, it's awful. It's not a pleasant experience. And why should you wear something uncomfortable like that when you can just turn the TV up as loud as it goes?
It's a real problem, and I'm not sure there's a true way out of it.
That said... the advances in hearing aid technology in the last 25 years are astounding. They used to just be microphones that amplified noise. Then in the late 90s, they introduced digital hearing aids. In the mid-teens, they introduced Bluetooth integration. I now don't need to wear clunky headphones -- I can stream directly from my iPhone or computer straight to my hearing aid with no loss in fidelity of sound! It's quite frankly incredible.
My audiologist sent me an email last week because the newer models are now water-proof. Up until now, I've had to take my hearing aid out to shower, to go outside in the rain, to swim. Now? I can do all of those things and actually hear. Showering with my partner might actually be sexy instead of silent. Swimming with friends might become a social activity instead of me having to choose between sitting outside the pool with my hearing aid on and participating in conversation, or getting into the pool with my hearing aid out and being unable hear anything.
I'm sure soon enough they'll introduce some other really clever technology. Maybe direct integrations with an AI assistant. Maybe AI-powered translation software a la the babel fish of Hitchhiker's Guide fame. Who knows? The sky's the limit.
But for now? For OTC stuff? For Grandma and Grandpa who can't hear the TV? They aren't going to buy it, because it's uncomfortable, it's expensive, and they'd have to admit to everyone around them that they're less than they were before. It's sad.