Do hard of hearing audiologists have an advantage over those with normal hearing?

“You can use those Starkey Destinys but a pair of Oticon Epochs would be much better for you. The Epochs are cutting-edge tech” said the audiologist. “Why would the Epochs be better?” I asked. “The technology is far more advanced…. ” he replied.

I’m sure an Oticon Epoch is more advanced than a Starkey Destiny but I really wanted that audiologist to tell me why the Epochs would allow me to hear better. I wanted to know how they’d sound different, how they’d sound better and clearer and what things I’d be able to hear with them that I wouldn’t be able to with the Destinys. Difficult questions to answer, I’m sure – but would he be better placed to answer them if he himself wore them?

I think he would.

I visited a new audiologist recently, an audiologist who is hard of hearing and wears a hearing aid herself. When I first found out she wore one I was very surprised but also very pleased: at last, someone who can fit me with hearing aids who truly understands my problems. She wears an Unitron Moxi, which she is recommending to me and have more confidence in her recommendation because she has used it herself and knows the aid inside out. What’s more, she has a very similar level of hearing loss to me and so I can see the Moxi in action as if I were using it.

When we came out of the consulting room and went to the front of the shop to make a follow-up appointment one of he colleagues spoke to her, she heard her clearly and responded, all I heard was a mumble. I also noticed that when she asked me for my personal details she was able to hear my address details first time – not something I could do at the moment with my Starkeys as I am relying on context to build sentences a lot of the time.

It was great talking with her, I’ve been able to ask so many questions about the Moxis, such as: Do they work well with phones? How long it the battery life? Etc. She has also been able to talk about how the noise reduction sounds, how the different programs sound, how comfortable the aid is and so on. This is all stuff you want to know when buying a new aid and stuff you usually need to find out for yourself during your trial period.