Lifelong aid wearer. So frustrated. Rant and seeking advice.
Hi all. I am seeking advice.
I've worn hearing aids nearly all my life, having been born with hearing loss. I've seen plenty of audiologists in my 50+ years and know my right ear has some frequencies more difficult than others, and my left ear is essentially un-aidable.
I picked an in-town office I'd never been to for my newest aid, a Phonak with a tiny in-canal receiver and BTE electronics with a teensy tiny little wire. I complained immediately that I thought there would be too much feedback with an open air fit, but this magical new aid has magical super-performing feedback cancellation, which worked -- mostly. Then I broke off the receiver pull tab from daily use. So I pulled on the wire. That eventually broke too, now dangling by the mere copper wire. I put it away and went back to my old Savvio Art with receiver in the aid and a simple tube to a full ear impression fitting that doesn't leak sound (eg feedback).
I paid $3500 for this Phonak two years ago, and unlike in the past, I get charged for every single office visit. It's already out of warranty.
I'm incredibly frustrated. I want to try OTC aids but know my hearing already disqualified me from one of the early companies offering OTC aids. I fail the prequalification tests because my ears are not similar to each other, although I only want one. The test results are "see a professional".
Over the past decades I've only managed to buy a new aid every 6-10 years. They are so expensive that I have to wait until someone dies and leaves me money, or get a very rare bonus, etc. I'm not wealthy, I live paycheck to paycheck.
I loved having bluetooth but hated the battery drain. I loved having recharable aids but hated not being able to go longer than 20 hours without charging as opposed to 4-5 weeks on a size 13 battery. I loved having multiple modes but hated having no physical button on the aid (smartphone app only, which infuriating takes 10-20 seconds to launch as opposed to instantly with a physical button). I hate open air fittings because of feedback, no matter how good the anti-feedback algorithm is, but this audiologist insisted I needed to try it (with no fallback if I didn't like it).
I welcome any ideas and thoughts how to deal with this.
Is $3500 actually reasonable in 2026?