I have tried a lot of hearing aids over the years, and I probably have a museum of hearing aids and have spent thousands and thousands of dollars. I have total hearing loss in my left ear. I tried the cross-directional aids at first to try to get some hearing from my deaf, left side. Those early aids 26 years ago were bulky and uncomfortable, and I didn’t wear them very long.
Every few years I would try again and when the digital hearing aids came out I tried several. The audiologist has recommended so many hearing aids that I couldn’t tell you the names of all of them. I have tried other CIC digital hearing aids and have not been satisfied. The sound from most of these digital hearing aids was not acceptable. If you are going to wear a hearing aid after being deaf for a while it takes a few weeks to get used to the new hearing. It sounds very loud but if you have a good digital hearing aid you will adapt to the new hearing and it will not bother you too much.
You can buy digital hearing aids which are one size fits all for about $400 and I tried several of these. These were marginally acceptable but I had to modify them to try to fit my ear and they would come loose and fall out frequently. The only advantage was that they were an improvement on anything else I had tried before and they were digital hearing aids. The drawback is they are not custom fit, they don’t prevent feedback on a telephone, which is very annoying, and in a loud room or public place you may as well take them out because you can’t distinguish anything with all the background noise.
Finally my audiologist recommended the Starkey destiny series CIC digital hearing aid. The aid is custom fit and even with that the audiologist had to make some modifications to make it fit and be comfortable. I wouldn’t trade this Starkey destiny hearing aid for anything now. The advantages are that it is very small and fits completely in the ear and is very comfortable. The sound quality is amazing and to me is very normal. The automatic control in this digital hearing aid eliminates the feedback when using a phone. My granddaughter used to get a kick out of covering my ear with the internet digital hearing aids because of the loud feedback. This hearing aid shuts down the feedback immediately so it is virtually impossible to create any annoying feedback and it is so effective my granddaughter has given up that little game. The hearing aid is even effective in those public places and I can distinguish what people say now in those situations. I don’t take the digital hearing aid out now if I am in a casino which is just nothing but noise. This hearing aid will cost about $3500 which is the only drawback. The price is not even a problem when you realize how good this digital hearing aid is and you can buy insurance if you lose it or get it wet. I occasionally forget to take it out in the shower and it fits in the ear so well that has not ruined it.
I highly recommend this Starkey Destiny CIC digital hearing aid for anyone with a hearing problem.
