What's a good HA for severe loss nowadays?

Chevfan

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I'll be starting the process of new HAs in the next couple of weeks or so, and I am SO out of the loop on what's good for severe to profound hearing loss. I've had a Starkey CC for the last 13 years (and 2 months to be precise). Time to move on ... I am going to take a plunge I've never wanted to take and get 2 of them this time.

Honestly, I only wear it to function at work but I know I need to make a change and wear them all the time. Probably why this one has lasted so long. If I could convince everyone around me to learn sign language with me, I'd probably be happy to go without. But that isn't going to happen, LOL!

I'm kind of fascinated with the Unitron Latitude Moxi 3G. Does anyone wear them?

Also, can someone explain this thing about "channels" to me? Do you want the most channels possible?
 
I think there was a member here who used Unitron Moxi 3G and has moved on to the Phonak Naida hearing aids as she has a severe to profound loss. She says she loves her new hearing aids.

I personally have the Phonak Naida UP hearing aids and think they are the best for severe profound losses.

Everyone is different tho so you need to try them out.
 
My husband has a Siemens Pure RIC for severe loss, and he really loves it.
 
I had and Oticon Tego Pro when my loss was severe. I now have Phonak Naida UPs for my profound loss. I prefer the sound from the Oticons.

See if you can trial a few different brands. You might want to ask the Audi what brands they work with most, just because they'd be more familiar with the software. They might be able to get to a better fitting with a brand they work with more.
 
I use Widex 440 Fusion/Clear which are excellent for severe loss/profound loss. The Super 440 are exclusively for profound - I could probably buy that model for the right ear and keep the Fusion model for my left...no idea what I'll do when I have to upgrade.

Anyway, there's a lot of options available to you. I personally didn't care for the metalic sound of Starkey - you should try the major brands mentioned to see which one you like best, but as pointed out, do look for an audi experienced with the brand you want to go with. The success of the hearing aid often depends on the skill of the person programming it, and you want someone that knows what they're doing. Have fun looking.... :)

Laura
 
I use Widex 440 Fusion/Clear which are excellent for severe loss/profound loss. The Super 440 are exclusively for profound - I could probably buy that model for the right ear and keep the Fusion model for my left...no idea what I'll do when I have to upgrade.

Anyway, there's a lot of options available to you. I personally didn't care for the metalic sound of Starkey - you should try the major brands mentioned to see which one you like best, but as pointed out, do look for an audi experienced with the brand you want to go with. The success of the hearing aid often depends on the skill of the person programming it, and you want someone that knows what they're doing. Have fun looking.... :)

Laura

err. should you say have fun listening LOL
 
I like oticon sumo's but i dont like its battery/switch mechanism, it could be a lot better...
i liked the older widex for speech recognition better than oticons but the sumo im usiing now is better for masking tinnitus...(and slightly gruntier), maybe next one will be a widex 440..
 
Does the tinnuitis masker work?

Insurance and all, I have 5 brands to work with: Phonak, Rexton, ReSound, Unitron, and Starkey.

Obviously, a lot of people have good experience with Phonak and Unitron. It never occurred to me I could try different brands. Cool. Since I've got a Starkey that has served me for ages, I don't want to completely rule them out. HOWEVER. Could be why I cannot handle wearing two of them, the metallic sound mentioned.

What I like about the Starkey and want to stay with if possible is in the ear (I wear glasses) and it's programmed, so no turning up and down. Altho .... I'm kind of also fascinated with the concept of rigging these things to my smartphone somehow, LOL. There is so much to soak up!

P.S. I'm a she. Sorry, with no picture and the generic handle .... who knew?
 
Does the tinnuitis masker work?

Insurance and all, I have 5 brands to work with: Phonak, Rexton, ReSound, Unitron, and Starkey.

Obviously, a lot of people have good experience with Phonak and Unitron. It never occurred to me I could try different brands. Cool. Since I've got a Starkey that has served me for ages, I don't want to completely rule them out. HOWEVER. Could be why I cannot handle wearing two of them, the metallic sound mentioned.

What I like about the Starkey and want to stay with if possible is in the ear (I wear glasses) and it's programmed, so no turning up and down. Altho .... I'm kind of also fascinated with the concept of rigging these things to my smartphone somehow, LOL. There is so much to soak up!

P.S. I'm a she. Sorry, with no picture and the generic handle .... who knew?

I'm not sure if ITE's can even handle severe loss, you'd be much better off with a BTE, BUT the in the severe range you'd probably do very well with AN RIC, or a BTE with a slim tube/tulip. They're quite small and probably wouldn't bother you too much with the glasses.

Rexton and Resound? Are you getting your aids at Costco? then you should be able to trial different ones
 
Does the tinnuitis masker work?

A Zen feature of Widex explained for tinnuitis:

ZEN2GO - new tinnitus device- Widex digital hearing aids

Although I respect that you like Starkey and would like to stay with it, I believe it's important to check out Phonak and other brands to have a chance to hear what they sound like. I know I wouldn't have blown my insurance coverage on Starkey if I had a chance to try Widex, so in the end, I paid more before I found the brand with the most natural sound...for me.

Costco stands by their products and if they're available in your area - not all stores provide the hearing services - it's worth speaking with their department about the hearing aids they offer. From what I've been told they're reasonablely priced. However, their hearing aids do tend to be more for customers with minimal or moderate loss. I think if you're dealing with severe/profound loss, you really need to look to some of the brands already mentioned in this thread. Still, it doesn't hurt to try Costco if that's something you're interested in.
 
I'm not sure if ITE's can even handle severe loss, you'd be much better off with a BTE, BUT the in the severe range you'd probably do very well with AN RIC, or a BTE with a slim tube/tulip. They're quite small and probably wouldn't bother you too much with the glasses.

Rexton and Resound? Are you getting your aids at Costco? then you should be able to trial different ones

I can't wear an ITE for my severe hearing loss . I wear an Oticon Safari . I wanted purple HA this time so mine are kids friendly . I not like the push button on it.
 
I can't wear an ITE for my severe hearing loss . I wear an Oticon Safari . I wanted purple HA this time so mine are kids friendly . I not like the push button on it.

Yeah when my hearing was severe I had a BTE, only kind I ever had, but my my loss was aggressively progressive. From the time I first went to an Audi about aids and I actually got them, I went through the VRC it was sloooow, I was already out of the range of an ITE.
 
I remember ask the audiologist, "What's the freaking difference between ITE and BTE? Don't they all go behind the ear?" I was frustrated because I was so confused at the time. He gave me a weird look after that. :giggle: Man, looking back I wonder how stupid I must have seemed.
 
Yeah when my hearing was severe I had a BTE, only kind I ever had, but my my loss was aggressively progressive. From the time I first went to an Audi about aids and I actually got them, I went through the VRC it was sloooow, I was already out of the range of an ITE.

My first HA was one of those big boxy body style one. When I was in my
20's I was stilling wearing a body style HA but it was small. I got the BTE in my mid 20's I think . My mom wanted get me a necklace that was a HA and I said no way!
 
My first HA was one of those big boxy body style one. When I was in my
20's I was stilling wearing a body style HA but it was small. I got the BTE in my mid 20's I think . My mom wanted get me a necklace that was a HA and I said no way!

I didn't start losing mine until I was in my 20's, left ear first at 20 but I didn't do anything about it until it started going in my right at around 26, got my first aids at 27 so that was only 11 years ago. Better stuff then.
 
I didn't start losing mine until I was in my 20's, left ear first at 20 but I didn't do anything about it until it started going in my right at around 26, got my first aids at 27 so that was only 11 years ago. Better stuff then.

I was born HOH but no one knew until I was almost 8 yo and had stayed back in first grade and still was not going to pass. My teacher gave me a hearing test and told my parent I needed to be tested in Boston and I can still remember the woman writing down what I was saying but it was written with strange letters . I only wore one HA and was send on to second grade when I never passed first grade.
 
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