While not as cheap as AirPods, there have been a boom of low-cost hearing aids in the last few years. They are finally available OTC, so that has driven prices down. A quick search will yield a few in the $300-range, but tbh I’m not sure about quality. I really hope the FDA keeps expanding OTC access to health tech. Especially devices that don’t typically cause damage or carry much risk.
My in-laws all have hearing problems (genetically?), and they said the prices are starting to reach the “keep a pair in the office, and a pair in the car” prices.
I hope so, too! They recently approved an OTC blood glucose monitor and it's been very eye-opening seeing how food and exercise affect blood glucose and then correlating how I feel with my blood glucose level. It's driving a lot of behavior change, and I would be a lot healthier now if I had access to it years ago.
Have fun with yours, but I'm a bit more reserved in my "reviews" of them. I think it's a cool product, but I've seen quite a bit of pseudo-science on the internet when people discuss them. You really have to grasp sometimes to connect glucose levels to "feelings". If you're a healthy adult without diabetes, there isn't a lot of research saying "X is bad/good", and the signal that people act on is not always reflective of evidence.
Yes it has a "needle". It's a plastic filament, and it's inserted inside a metal needle that gets removed with the applicator.
It was actually entirely "painless" to apply. I braced myself, hit the button, and went "did it happen?" and saw something stuck in my arm. 100% couldn't tell. THAT SAID, I spent the next 3 days going "ughhhhhhh my arm hurts" so I must've hit something. I squished the flesh around a bit, and massaged my arm and it stopped after a few days. I can't tell if I got unlucky, or if this is just what "new thing in my arm" feels like.
Yes and it's fairly intimidating (but I am a bit squeemish), the "painless" they refer to is that the applicator will have a lot of surface area which pretty much drowns out the pain of the needle prick.
It was painless, but painless does not mean no needle.
I am currently trialling a pair of Phonak hearing aides (mid-range audio package, roughly AUD$5K) and I can assure you the sound quality is garbage even at this price point.
Yes, they pick up sounds I don't normally hear, but I would compare the experience to listening to world through a cheap high-school PA system.
Are you used to wearing aids? Like have you worn them for several years? I remember when I first wore hearing aids it sounded like really tinny bluetooth speakers hovering behind my head. It was distracting and a bit depressing to think this was what I was going to have to listen to.
Over a few months my brain priced it in, and now I don't get that at all. Putting them in just means I hear better. It is like my brain has noticed the new sounds and interprets them before I hear them. The audiologist I spoke to said this happens to everybody, however the longer you've had untreated hearing loss and the older you are, the longer it will take your brain to adapt.
