Wisconsin specialist weighs in on over-the-counter hearing aids – Spectrum News 1
FOND DU LAC, Wis. — Tucked away in a box full of mementos is Tom O’Connor’s first hearing aid from the 1950s when he was six-years-old. He was born with a hearing impairment and has worn hearing aids his whole life.
“It’s a museum piece,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor still wears a hearing aid in his left ear, but in his right ear he has a cochlear implant because of a more severe hearing loss.
“A hearing aid is basically an amplifier with lots of bells …….
FOND DU LAC, Wis. — Tucked away in a box full of mementos is Tom O’Connor’s first hearing aid from the 1950s when he was six-years-old. He was born with a hearing impairment and has worn hearing aids his whole life.
“It’s a museum piece,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor still wears a hearing aid in his left ear, but in his right ear he has a cochlear implant because of a more severe hearing loss.
“A hearing aid is basically an amplifier with lots of bells and whistles,” said O’Connor. “The cochlear implant is electrical or electronic. The procedure is that they insert this long wire into your cochlear, then it stimulates the hearing cells in your ear canal.”
The cochlear implant is covered by insurance, but his hearing aid is not. He’s gone through eight hearing aids in his lifetime. The most recent costing over $2,000.
“You can get cheaper ones, but the hearing aids I get are advanced,” said O’Connor.
Recently, the Federal Drug and Food Administration issued a final rule improving access to affordable over-the-counter hearing aids for those with a mild-to-moderate hearing impairment without the need for a medical exam, prescription or fitting adjustment by an audiologist.
The National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders said close to 30 million adults in the U.S. could benefit from hearing aid use. Here in Wisconsin, the Council for the Deaf and hard of hearing said there’s over 500,000 people that are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf blind.
O’Connor said he is unsure about the over-the-counter hearing aids.
“My main concern is that everything is prone to be scammed,” said O’Connor. “I have a feeling that some of these places are going to be cheap hearing aids. They’re not going to work well. A lot of people are going to get discouraged by it. It’s going to cause more depression and more regression.”
Dr. Karl Doerfer specializes in ear and hearing disorders at Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin. He said over-the-counter hearing aids will save patients both time and money, but they should see a specialist, regardless.
“The biggest concern we have as hearing and ear specialist is that some conditions aren’t going to go diagnosed when they should be,” said Doerfer. “Some types of hearing loss are related to tumors, infections, inner ear disorders that really require something more than a hearing aid for treatment. Some types of hearing loss are reversible, either with surgery or medication.”
The FDA said over-the-counter hearing aids will become available in some retailers by the middle of October. In the meantime, O’Connor will continue advocating alongside the …….
