Getting a hearing aid re-cased

RoseRodent

RoseRodent

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Has anyone ever had a hearing aid re-cased for any reason? I am considering some second hand ones but I hate the colour, just wondering what sort of money it costs to get the casing changed. There's no chance I can afford new. Heck I can't afford the second hand! :shock:
 
RoseRodent said:
Has anyone ever had a hearing aid re-cased for any reason? I am considering some second hand ones but I hate the colour, just wondering what sort of money it costs to get the casing changed. There's no chance I can afford new. Heck I can't afford the second hand! :shock:
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Don't they just give them to you in the UK?
 
I don't know about the UK. But here in the US it's expensive compared to new. When the battery compartment on mine broke to the point that the entire HA would have to be recased, it would have been about $300 (this is back in the days when we only had analogs, and at about $500, so a brand-new would have been more practical - I opted for brand new at this point!) I don't know about the cost of recasing a digital, though.
 
I never heard of recasing a HA for color changes. I had my old hearing aid refurbished in past by sending in to have it repairs and new case put on, but at the time there was only ONE color, beige. I really doubt they would have a color option at the time of refurbishment nowadays. Wouldn't be cost effective.
 
Bottesini said:
Don't they just give them to you in the UK?
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They LOAN them to you, but they don't necessarily set you up with something effective or appropriate. In some counties provision is good, they can and will order any colour and any item from "the catalogue" and match up the patient to the hearing aid. In other counties (like mine) you are getting a beige Siemens whether a beige Siemens is any good to you or not. My Siemens has been returned for a raft of repairs, exchanged and reprogrammed and it STILL sounds like there is a wasp trapped in there that is very angry and dying. The audi admits this is not supposed to happen and that it's a terrible hearing aid fit, but they can (read "will")only change it for more identical ones with the same fault unless I am prepared to move house about 300 miles away. So I'm buying my own again.

I'm not sure in what way they think that the constant exchange fees, repair fees, cleaning fees and audiologists' appointment fees are cheaper than just swapping it for a different hearing aid, for which the NHS pays £82 per ear (for low-level purchasing by an out of area authority - not part of hte standardised price plan, before everyone comes back with a different price!!), but for reasons of cost they have to spend way more money. Government thinking if ever there was any.
 
maybe it's time for a new hearing aid
I went with Oticons and kept my Siemens for backups if my new hearing aid or other old pair breaks down :)
BTW, I got a new hearing aid this month
 
Interesting...I thought the UK's healthcare system was universal, but you are saying that coverage varies from county to county???

If it will cost you just under 100 pounds, you might as well order a new one made in South Asia from eBay for the same price. I have one, works very well.
 
Nishiki77 said:
Interesting...I thought the UK's healthcare system was universal, but you are saying that coverage varies from county to county???
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Yeah, you pay in universally everyone at the same rate of compulsory payments, but what you get back is determined by where you live - it's called "the postcode lottery" here, some places get a good range of hearing aids in a choice of colour and always the latest technology and even some people get streamers and remotes and in other places they offer you one hearing aid for a binaural deafness and it's one model in beige, there's your fitting, come back in 3 years, no aftercare, no "tweaks" - needless to say most people go home and put their hearing aid in a box in a drawer and never venture out again.

Same with other things like wheelchairs in some areas you get a voucher that you can top up to your preferred wheelchair, but here you just get sent out one of those standard steel boxes without even a physiotherapist looking at you. Some areas you are more likely to survive for 3 years after cancer diagnosis as they let you have the drugs, other areas they don't pay for it, people living a mile apart on opposite sides of an invisible line between hospitals are living and dying based on the road they live on.
 
The tragic thing is how many people think this is just how bad hearing aids are, put them in a drawer and go on to live miserable lives thinking they can't do this and that cos they've never been able to try a good fitting. The private market is often not much better, lots of bad people preying on the ignorance surrounding hearing aids.
 
One way to brighten up drab HAs is Hearing Aid Safety Device to Cover, Protect, & Prevent Loss of Children's Hearing Aids!

Son currently has red ones that are a bit large for his Oticon Tegos & a flesh-tone w/ zebra stripes pair for Oticon Safaris that are a bit small for the Tegos. They were free, so that's tolerable.

We previously had a light blue pair that I gave to another poster.

They're very nice people to work with; if DS wants another color, I'd certainly buy from them again.

I've seen other pull-on covers in many colors, but they weren't quite what I was looking for at the time.

Stickers can be had at the stationers or other shops and you could change art as the mood strikes. Maybe some of those fancy diamantes and other things for fingernail art could work.

I think you could creatively turn "bland" into beautiful for you.
 
rivenoak said:
One way to brighten up drab HAs is Hearing Aid Safety Device to Cover, Protect, & Prevent Loss of Children's Hearing Aids!

Son currently has red ones that are a bit large for his Oticon Tegos & a flesh-tone w/ zebra stripes pair for Oticon Safaris that are a bit small for the Tegos. They were free, so that's tolerable.

We previously had a light blue pair that I gave to another poster.

They're very nice people to work with; if DS wants another color, I'd certainly buy from them again.

I've seen other pull-on covers in many colors, but they weren't quite what I was looking for at the time.

Stickers can be had at the stationers or other shops and you could change art as the mood strikes. Maybe some of those fancy diamantes and other things for fingernail art could work.

I think you could creatively turn "bland" into beautiful for you.
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I have most of those colors they sell, and I manage to stretch the standard size over my Naida. They make nice changes.
 
Thanks, I couldn't make any use out of the ones that cover the whole hearing aid because I need to access my program and volume controls a lot, and because the UK health service loans you hearing aids not your property some areas get really cross if you stick things on them. For me and these faulty ones they are replaced about every 3 months so don't want to invest too much in them! The coating means you cannot stick stickers onto them unless you add extra glue, and I did once accidentally use a glue that melted the casing - whoops! It was already a dead hearing aid, don't worry, I have one that I keep for trying new things on. I used to put stickers on but they always ended up in my hair after about 10 seconds, so this is my current project:

JJ9Zb9
Ooh weird, my links went away! http://flickr.com/gp/roserodent/X20W43 http://flickr.com/gp/roserodent/5oFA9N
RNC121


They are based on a Cochlear brand processor cover, but I don't really use them as I have to take off the FM system. They are made out of something called Friendly Plastic, and I could easily mould one over the FM and shoe but the problem is that you do expose the hearing aid to heat and moisture in making the casing. I have a spare dud hearing aid to do this to, but no spare FM so am looking to make a clean, dry casting of it so I can mould onto the FM system. I will then send my prototype off to someone who does better craft than I do and has a steady hand instead of a pair of wibbly dibbers that are inclined to throw small objects at will, but you get the idea!

If I bought my own then maybe I'd decorate them but I'm scared of messing it up if I do anything directly onto the hearing aid surface, I am about as artistic as a lump of cement. :laugh2:
 
Bottesini said:
I have most of those colors they sell, and I manage to stretch the standard size over my Naida. They make nice changes.
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I won some standard size cheetah pattern ones in a competition. I'm trying to stretch them so that they fit my HAs. I love the pattern but they are a bit on the tight side.
 
djchur said:
I won some standard size cheetah pattern ones in a competition. I'm trying to stretch them so that they fit my HAs. I love the pattern but they are a bit on the tight side.
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I know what you mean. I may have too much time on my hands. I think you can see a bit of the bottom of my Naida, but if people are staring that closely at my hearing aid, they have too much interest. :lol:

I never won any, except the first time I bought one, they let me choose another free later.

I also tried to convince them to make tie dyed, but no go. Oh well.
 
I always figure that although I couldn't demonstrate they are acoustically transparent, that'd be the least of my problems with my current fit so I'll make my own since I can sew. And then I don't! LOL
 
Bottesini said:
I know what you mean. I may have too much time on my hands. I think you can see a bit of the bottom of my Naida, but if people are staring that closely at my hearing aid, they have too much interest. :lol:

I never won any, except the first time I bought one, they let me choose another free later.

I also tried to convince them to make tie dyed, but no go. Oh well.
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Part of the problem is not only do they hardly cover my HAs but they are so tight that they exert pressure on the programme button, with the result that I end up hearing through the normal microphone in one ear and the directional microphone or telecoil with the other. Usually the covers slacken up after a while, but this pair seem particularly tight.

I've tried fm covers in the past but they are too long on my HAs alone and not long enough to cover audioshoes and fm receivers, when worn. Maybe they could make an inbetween size especially for super power HAs.
 
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