I wear 2 hearing aids and my husband has worn two for over 10 tears. I guess that qualifies us to coment First of all they won't be like when your hearing was perfect. They have made a lot of improvements in the past 10 years. My hearing is "moderate" and I wear ones that sit behaind the ear and has a small plaster tubing with small microphone( I guess that is what it can be called. There is probably a fancier name for it) comes around the front of the ear and sits in the ear canal. It is barely visible. It has been set by an audiologist to give me the best hearing I an expect.. Where It is minimally effective is when sitting in church and trying to hear what is being said or in a conference room with a lot of people and the speaker moving about on the platrform. But, it is a great improvement for most other type venues. I don't say, "WHAT" nearly as often. Some can be fitted to block background noise. Some people have just gotten used to not hearing everything, and sometimes that can be nice. :-)) , and it is bothersome hearing loud sounds again. My husband is profoundly deaf ( 70% loss). His hearing aid fits behind the ear and has a molded ear piece that was fitted for his ear inside the ear canal. It is more visible, but not bad. Cost is terrible. I did not get the ones with all the bells and whistles. I'm retired and my lifestyle did not seem to require them and I'm happy with the ones I have. They came with a 2 week free trial and a 1 year guarantee. I don't think that I would buy anything with less. I have had them for 3 years and no problems. I wear them about 50% of the time. They were $3000 for the pair. My husband has to wear his all the time. He just got a new pair after 11 years. They were more expensive due to the custom fitting in the ear canal. He has no choice as to type of fitting. They came with a 3 yr. guarantee. I think there are lesser expensive ones like his with maybe 1 yr. guarantee. They were $5000. Yes I swallowed twice also when he told me. Keep in mind, he could not drive safely or do the work he does without them, not to mention communicate with me. This is lengthy, but hope it gives you a better picture about hearing aids. Some people are never happy with what they buy and end up putting them in a box and quessing at what they hear. Good luck!

If 'The Wisdom of Crowds' depends on the crowds, the crowd at the KT is the best! All of the three brands of behind-the-ear aids offered to me at Costco have 5-year warranties for parts and service, including re-programming. The cheapest is made in Vietnam; the other two, in Switzerland and Denmark. They are all sold in pairs. Costco's Kirkland Signature 9.0 aids ($1500) have non-rechargeable batteries, but batteries are cheap (48 for $9), and I'm still dexterous. The audiologist in the video I saw was dumbfounded that there's no charger and was sorry they'd eliminated the telecoil. (This has to be price constraints, but I'm not sure I'd miss either thing.) The other two brands sold by Costco ($2500 per pair) are rechargeable ($250 additional for the charger) and do have telecoils. One is made in Switzerland and one in Denmark. I so 'unconnected' (low-tech) that I don't know if I need telecoils. I don't listen to music or audiobooks (currently), and I can hear fine (currently) when using my cellphone. I need captions for TV though. Will I be a thousand dollars sorry not to have the telecoil?

After my 2nd child, I began to have hearing loss. I was 33. It continued to get worse, and I had more loss on my right side than my left. So I would always turn my head towards whoever was talking so I could hear them better. Even DH picked up on this, and he would always sit on my left side. When I was 48, I had health insurance that covered hearing aids, so I decided to get my hearing tested. I was shocked at how much my hearing had deteriorated. I'm now on my 2nd pair of hearing aids. 1st pair I got over 12 years ago, they were Oticons. They were around $5000. They didn't have any bells or whistles, just plain. They worked -- okay. I had to have some parts replaced through those years, never more than $250 for repairs. The costs to replace had gone up considerably (and insurance didn't cover them anymore) so I just kept maintaining them. I went through an ENT and then audiologist when purchasing. 6 months ago, after much researching, I decided to take the plunge and check out Costco. An licensed audiologist checked my hearing, and before she'd sell me anything, she made me go to an ENT and get checked out. There I had another audiologist check my hearing, the ENT MD went over everything -- both reports (from Costco & his office) and they were exactly alike. My insurance wouldn't pay anything for the h-aids, but did the office visit. I asked him about the hearing aids from Costco and he said they were great quality, and that his office could not even come close to matching their prices. I then took that report back to Costco, and the audiologist worked with me to find the best that fit me. The brand I now have is Phillips -- which is manufactured by Oticon. (Oticon is one of the top manufacturers of hearing aids.) The h.aids cost about $2100. If I'd not gone w/the "generic" version, it would have been around $8000. They are rechargeable, which I really like! I can control the volume w/my phone, phone conversations feed through my ears, same with the music on my phone. I do not have the TV connection, although I think I could get it. They are so comfortable. My previous pair, I couldn't wait to take them off when I got home. Not from the sound, just the feeling of wearing them. So far, I've not had any problems. I have, (I think a year?) or so to take them back if I don't like them. They are warrantied for 4 years. They provide the domes & filters for free for life. These are very comfortable. I don't rush to take them off when I get home from work. In fact, I probably wear them more than I didn't the 1st pair. If I can answer any questions, just let me know!! Came back to add w/the app, I also have these features: Find my hearing aids Battery Status -- I put them in at 7:30 am this morning, it's 2:00 pm, and I still have 78%. I love not having to mess with tiny little batteries! Microphone (this turns my phone into a microphone.) I've not had to use it, but if I were in a meeting in large room, I could put my phone closer to the speaker and it would play it through the H.aids. And both of these, -- although I've not used either of them yet. IFTTT Hearing loop And probably some things I don't even know about. LOL!!

DH as a musician has many special needs as far as adjustments with his hearing aids. He's been back a number of times and then they replaced both when the battery went out on one since there was a major upgrade and they said this would take care of that. There is a soft rubber piece that is to be replaced if it gets anything in it ...and it is so tiny and you don't clean it you just put in new ones. He has found he wasn't replacing that often enough. So now once a week at least he does. That has also helped immensely. It is a trial and error as each individual gets the hearing they need . Don't hesitate to get them to do whatever makes this work for you. As a home health nurse I saw way too many folks that went without their hearing aids and dentures because they never could get anyone to fit them properly. DH says you want clarity not volume. And he said there are two different removable replaceable parts one is tiny and white and the other is clear and it seals the ear canal and it covers the microphone and keeps wax from getting it there . He said the molded do not work for him as far as listening to live music. Anyway he also said you are hearing so much more that it does take getting used to. He has his turned down more and that has also helped. He has been having adjustments made since he got them in July so it does take time.