Originally Posted by
NOS88
I've been wearing them for over a decade. Without them I only hear about 25% of what most people hear. I find they improved my quality of life a great deal. I do not wear them when cycling. It's not the wind noise that is the issue for me. Rather, it's the fact that they don't do well when drenched with sweat, and mine are behind the ear.
Ditto NOS88. I have behind the ear, and have used in-the-ear. The in-the-ear tends to close up the ear canal, resulting in a boomy-ness sound (like talking with your pinkies in your ears). The behind the ear don't completely close the ear canal so you hardly know you're wearing them. One problem I had is in certain work situations (theater lighting) I would remove my in-the-ear (when wearing a communication closed ear headset) and hopefully remember where I put the aid. I lost or broke two that way. The behind the ear models I can wear in pretty much any situation.
I do not wear them cycling. I have ruined one behind-the-ear with sweat (Costco replaced under warranty), I now have Gore-Tex covers (yes, that's what they are made from) that is supposed to keep them dry, but I find wearing my aids while riding to be annoying, too much wind noise. As well my loss is in the voice range and I can hear auto's and trucks approaching from behind. I just am not much a conversationalist while on the bike.
I purchased my behind the ears from Costco, having used the hearing center at my college for my first in-the-ears. I am much happier with Costco, having purchased the Kirtland Signature series. They were $2000, minus my union reimbursement of $500 so cost $1500. Money well spent. The warranty is 2 years and they come with rechargeable batteries, which makes life much simpler, simply pop the entire unit in the provided charger overnight and they will last all the next day. This is much more convenient then swapping batteries and cost effective as the $20 rechargeable lasts at least a year. You can also get a $300 Bluetooth communicator that pairs the aids with a cell phone, so easy to take calls. They will also stream audio from an iPod, but typically streaming Bluetooth music is not great sounding, or so I've been told. I don't have the BT device, maybe for Christmas.
I have as well, been very happy with the service at Costco. The audiologists I have dealt with are first rate as are the folks that manage the center.
http://www.costco.com/hearing-aid-styles.html