deafdyke said:I remebered what the brand name of my first aid was....Qualitone!
Beltone, and Miricle Ear places are RIPOFFS. They are almost as bad as those ones that are advertised mailorder (like the natureear types)I have been wearing beltone hearing aids for over 20 years. From the age of five to about 14,
Go back to BTEs. ITEs are not generally powerful enough for more then a mild loss. Trust me....I wore BTEs til I was fourteen and then switched to ITE aids. I totally thought I could hear with ITE aids, but was mostly just lipreading. Thank GAWD I went back to BTEs....I had an ITE for a few years on my better hearing ear, which i s mild to moderate loss) (stopped using it b/c it broke) then last year got BTEs for both my ears....WOW the difference is AMAZING! I've also been told by two reputable audis at two respected hearing insistutions (Mass. Eye and Ear and Clarke School for the Deaf)that the baby aids don't provide enough power. You may rediscover the clearness and crispness that you're missing with your current aids. It's NOT about analog vs. digitals either.....my current aids are just analogs....but I can hear SO MUCH with them, compared to my old aids it's amazing! I know you might be worried about cosmetic concerns....but trust me...BTE aids are NOT that noticable! I love how the media makes the larger aids sound like a satillite downlink or something!!!!then I went to a small ITE on the left ear. A ear infection five years later, I switched to more powerful ITE Optima's for both ears. I was dumb when I was a kid, should have went with two hearing aids instead of two. These are OK, they help me hear but not clear and crisp as much as I like. Might be I still have the programmable analog technology still, I really can't complain since I have never had experience with other hearing aids on the market.