r/hardofhearing

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately...I have a friend struggles with hearing in loud settings like restaurants, bars, or group hangouts. He’s well aware of it, but whenever the topic of getting a hearing aid comes up, he shuts down it. Interesting that he has no problem wearing AirPods or earbuds in public all day long. So I’m curious what makes hearing aids feel so different psychologically. Is purely a social stigma thing, or is it something about how these devices look and feel? For those who experienced this hesitation yourselves or know someone who did, how did you/they get past it.

Hi folks! This might be a dumb question - but my audiologist wasn’t sure of the answer when I asked him. I’ve been wearing hearing aids since I was ~5 or so (33 now) for moderate to profound hearing loss, and my hearing has been stable during that time. I know that it’s recommended that people wear earplugs at concerts to protect their hearing; I typically take out my hearing aids when I go to shows so they sound less distorted / feedbacky / more natural. Does doing that act in the same way as earplugs would for folks with normal hearing (i.e limiting the sound level reaching the inner ear?), or should I also be wearing earplugs to protect my ears?

I have otosclerosis,
and I had a failed stapadectomy on my right ear decades ago. I have been wearing a Phonak Naida 90 Phonak cros for 10 years. My recent hearing test shows decline, I am 61.

My longtime ride or die audiologist has retired. My new audiologist is suggesting I try rechargeable aids. My issue is I need to sleep with my aid on or I can’t hear my alarm clock or phone alarm.

Should I try a rechargeable or stick with using size 13 batteries? The 20 hour rechargeable battery time concerns me…

Hoy me hicieron una timpanometria en los oídos, en el oído con buena audición la timpanometria salió bien pero cuando intentaron hacerla en el oído con hipoacusia daba error y no fueron capaces de hacer la timpanometria, me preguntaron si estaba operado del oído al cual dije que no y por más veces que lo intentaron no pudieron a que es debido, puede ser fallo de mi oído medio

being hard of hearing is very hard. i keep telling myself you can do this, it’ll get better, it’s just a matter of time.. but no. i fear that it’ll stay the same for rest of my life.

i had normal hearing as a kid. i have no idea why my hearing gradually reduced during my teen years. everything became hard later on. i couldn’t understand classes, i couldn’t build a proper conversation. i slowly started to isolate myself. i talked less. everyone around said that my voice has become soft / low. it’s obvious because i literally stopped talking. i somehow managed my schooling. later when i joined university i was full of anxiety and nervousness. four years has passed since then. i managed my college thanks to some good friends and of course technology through which i self taught myself most of the time. and now after joining a corporate i feel even more scared. unlike school and university, i might have to keep communicating every now and then. it feels too hard. and top of that i feel lonely and depressed. i am unable build connections. unable to have a proper conversation with someone. so many years has passed since my hearing loss but nothing changed. i still isolate myself, i still talk less, i still worry about my future / career.. is there no end to this? how long will this go on? i am really tired.

PS. i used hearing aids years ago. but it’s of no use to me. it was just some increase in sound / noise. finally i decided to undergo cochlear implant last year thinking it’ll help me in my career. so many months passed and i still don’t have proper speech clarity. every day i just hope for it to get better. but tbh i don’t think it’ll improve anytime soon or this will be the case for the rest of my life.

i didn’t feel like ranting to anyone i know. so am posting this here as there might be someone with similar experiences. i just feel like sharing so it’ll make me feel light. thanks ;)

I have other disability beside hard of hearing. I got mild form of Charge Syndrome, along w Kallmaan Syndrome. I know friends and even my gf, are also deaf plus. Wondering anyone else got other disability beside deaf/hoh?

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Hi all! My 2.5month daughter will be getting hearing aids in both ears in a few week's time.

Does anyone have any recommendations for new born hearing aid bands and clips? I want to get her a bit accustomed to wearing the bands before the aids come in.

I just canceled with the hostess who's giving a party that I don't want to go to. She's my best friend, sort of, but she badgers me when I don't wear my hearing aids. To spare you a long story, I'm finally getting a new pair from the recalcitrant provider. When I was complaining that the aids didn't work right, she said, "You have to be very firm!" (I was.) And then, when the due date was pushed back to next Wednesday (and her party is today) I knew she'd give me crap for not having them yet. So I canceled.

Even when they're working properly, I don't wear them all that much. TV watching and going out with friends is about it. I am of an age where they say that one of the contributing factors to dementia is not wearing hearing aids, and social isolation. That's another thing she bugs me about. I'm a big introvert and when the pandemic happened it was like I was training my whole life for all that isolation.

This is getting pretty long, so I'll come to the point. She's one of these people who gets offended if I ask her to repeat herself. She's not alone. I'm to the point when I want to learn ASL and get with some people who understand. Too many people mumble, or "talk to their chest," as I call it, or say something when they're behind me or in the next room. I just want people to get it!

I told her a fib about canceling. I just can't make her understand that this is a real thing. It's like she thinks I made it up, or I can just snap out of it.

I've been thinking about this lately because I realized I don't wear my hearing aids nearly as consistently at home as I do when I'm out.

If I'm going to work, meeting people, going to a restaurant, or somewhere I know I'll need to follow conversations, I'll put them in without really thinking about it.

But once I'm home, it's different.

If I'm just watching TV, doing things around the house, or spending some time by myself, I often take them out. Sometimes I just want a break from processing every little sound.

The funny thing is that there are definitely moments at home when I notice the difference. I'll miss something someone says from another room, turn the TV up more than I probably should, or realize I didn't hear something until someone repeats it.

Then I start wondering if I should just get into the habit of wearing them all day.

I'm curious how other people handle this.

Do you wear your hearing aids from the moment you wake up until you go to bed?

Or do you mostly use them when you know you'll actually need them?

My dad is severely hard of hearing, even with hearing aids/cochlear implant. He's an avid reader and really enjoys American and world history. Another reddit thread made me think he'd really love the Hardcore History podcast by Dan Carlin.

I will say that he can generally get by with TV, etc if it's on Bluetooth to his hearing devices, so maybe that would work ok from his phone or PC?

If anyone has suggestions, I'd sure appreciate it. Also - if you have a cochlear implant, have you been able to get music to sound right? That has really made a huge negative impact in his quality of life.

• Samsung Newsroom - Samsung’s Hearing Aid Feature on Galaxy Buds Cleared by FDA
• Korea Herald - FDA clears Galaxy Buds to function as hearing aids

> The Hearing Aid and Hearing Test features will be available on Galaxy Buds3 Pro and Galaxy Buds4 Pro in the U.S. and select approved markets in Q4 2026.

> Available on Galaxy Buds3 Pro and Galaxy Buds4 Pro only.

> Availability may vary by market, model or paired device. The Hearing Aid feature is intended for users 18 years and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss and is not a substitute for professional diagnosis or treatment by a qualified clinician.

> Full support requires a compatible Galaxy device with One UI 8 or later.

My wife needs hearing aids. This is an age problem and I'll probably end up needing them myself.
We live in France and reasonable quality hearing aids easily cost €3000. I have no idea what technology goes into them and I have little or any expertise about this (maybe my question proves this decisively), but an Apple Airpod goes into the ear and is used (in a different way, admittedly) to hear things and yet, despite them being considered pretty expensive, they cost between €150 to €600. So between a twentieth and the fifth of the price of hearing aids.
I'm assuming that Airpods and hearing aids have quite a lot in common technologically - I might be wrong.
So I have two questions.

1. Are we being scammed ? - Yes, I think we are but maybe not for the reasons I'm thinking of.
2. And if we are being scammed why has no one brought a cheap, reliable, hearing aid to market ?

Hi, everyone! I’m deaf/blind and live in the United States. I currently work as a federal government contractor and have experience working with content management systems (CMS), but unfortunately, my salary isn’t enough. I really need to find a second job or a legitimate side hustle.

I’ve noticed that many job applications ask whether you have a disability. I understand that answering is usually voluntary, but I sometimes wonder whether selecting “yes” affects my chances of getting an interview. Has anyone experimented with selecting “no” or “prefer not to answer” and noticed a difference in the number of interview requests they received?

Here are some of my skills and experience:

• Creating and following standard operating procedures (SOPs)
• Working with databases and government award platforms
• Microsoft Office
• Basic IT support, although I don’t have any certifications yet
• Data entry
• Online research for clients
• Photography and photo editing
• Customer service using ZVRS and Deaf relay services
• Email marketing
• Social media management for small businesses
• Content management systems

I’m also interested in using AI to earn additional income, possibly by creating e-books or digital products, but I honestly don’t know where to begin or what I should teach myself.

Where would you recommend I start? Are there any jobs that might be easier to get with my background? What side hustles have actually worked for you?

I’m about $60,000 in debt and have fallen behind on some bills, so I’m trying hard to improve my situation. I’ve already spent too much money on AI platforms, online courses, and e-books that didn’t help. Unfortunately, I’ve also been scammed, so I’m only looking for legitimate advice and opportunities. Please don’t message me trying to sell another course or program.

Any helpful advice would mean a lot to me. Thanks in advance!

Warning: This is lengthy:

For over three years, I was a teacher at a state agency that served some of the state’s most vulnerable young people. I accepted this role with the belief that my experience, education, and dedication to students would allow me to make a difference. No, I walked away after what I felt was bullying, retaliation, unfair treatment, over-monitoring, and disability discrimination.

I asked for reasonable accommodations from the beginning of my job that would allow me to communicate effectively and safely in a secure setting. These weren’t special requests. These were the accommodations I needed to do my work and stay safe. It took years, though. Requests were delayed, refused, limited, or carried out in ways that did not meet the challenges that I had presented.

The more I fought for myself, the more hostile my workplace environment was. I was singled out for enforcement of regulations, over-scrutinized, professionally isolated, micromanaged, surveilled, held to changing expectations, mandated with limits that did not seem to be applied to others, and had my professional judgment second-guessed repeatedly.

I didn't keep my mouth shut.

I sought support from supervisors and administrators. I reached out to Human Resources and Employee Relations. I documented incidents, submitted safety concerns, filed accommodation requests, filed grievances and complaints, produced written rebuttals, and presented evidence.

When the internal systems failed to address my issues, I moved outside the agency. “I reached out to state human resources people, state government offices, legislators, elected officials, and others in state administration. I requested an independent evaluation and supplied documents about the accommodation issues, treatment at work, retaliation, discrimination, and safety issues I had experienced.

Eventually I even approached the media, since I felt I had exhausted practically every other route open to me.

Still, no one seriously got involved.

Perhaps that’s the most disturbing part of my experience. I followed the procedures employees are told to follow. I recorded what happened. I expressed concerns. I submitted grievances. I went above their heads. I contacted elected officials and attempted to bring public attention to what was happening.

But I continued to go to work knowing that the people I had reported still had a lot of power over my day-to-day working conditions.

I finally left. Not because I stopped caring about my students or couldn’t do my job anymore, but because I no longer believed the environment would improve.

I'm an experienced teacher, and I understood how to document matters, submit formal complaints, keep evidence, contact government officials, and advocate for myself. And I still could not receive any real assistance.

This makes me worry about what happens to the workers who don’t know how to negotiate with such organizations, who are too scared or too tired to keep fighting.

I am not seeking sympathy. I am seeking a sense of responsibility.

Discrimination, retaliation, and harassment policies are meaningless if employees cannot get effective protection when they turn to their employer for help.

I may have walked away from that workplace, but I will not walk away from what happened.”

The question that remains is a simple one:

How can an employee ask supervisors, Human Resources, state officials, lawmakers, and even the media for help, and still be left with nowhere to turn?