Why Are Hearing Aids so UGLY!?!

Why Are Hearing Aids so UGLY!?! Doctor Cliff Olson, Audiologist and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix Arizona, discusses why hearing aids used to be so ugly and how that's changing with the New Phonak Lumity Slim Hearing Aid.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Hearing Aid Stigma
01:57 More Features, Less Stigma
03:11 Phonak Slim
04:06 Phonak Slim Features
05:52 Final Thoughts

[terriannolson]

I LOVE my hearing aids, Cliff. 😊 And they are very comfortable to wear. It was a problem when we were wearing masks 😷 and putting them on and off. But now we rarely if ever need to wear masks. 🙂

[kittyyureirxx]

This could be titled 'Why are hearing aids so ugly, because hearing aid manufacturers are large monopolistic organisations that are not yet really beholden to their consumers'. I tell you what would change the design. If apple came out with an airpod that was powerful enough to cater to people with severe hearing loss, bam overnight the largest manufacturers would change their design. The slim looks like another lets do the bare minimum to me.

[kendal]

i was 2 when i got hearing aids, and i NEVER liked them until i was 31. i have worn them every day since i got them n October of 2022

[terriannolson]

Ooo .. I like that Phonak Slim hearing aid. I'm happy with my current Phonak Paradise Audeo 90R with Double Tap Control. Hmmm ... sounds like the Phonak Slim includes that feature. 😊

[denkn]

My dad sold hearing aids by appointment, hearing test and all. Qualitone had the behind ear model and the old putty in the ear, mold made and then a call back to clients house to fit. Eyes really lit up sometimes when the client first got fitted. I was 12 and was the recorder of the hearing test.
There was one model option that was incorporated into the temple of glasses with the tube coming down in front of the ear.
This was after the pocket hearing aid was retired. lol

[meric]

Ah I love the new colour scheme with the autosense os 5.0 pop up in the video red was a good choice and the os glowing white also a brilliant choice

[texasvet]

Bluetooth with Phonak hearing aids is atrocious. I have to hold my phone up around my chest to keep Bluetooth from cutting out. It’s the same with two different phones and two different sets of hearing aids. It seems to be really bad when outside. I currently have the Audeo Life HA’s because I exercise daily and I wanted the waterproof feature. They’re terrible. I still have to use my AirPods when exercising. Seems like such a simple thing but apparently Phonak and Bluetooth don’t get along very well.

[missalwayswrite]

I’ve been hoping that since Millennials have had stuff on/around our ears our entire lives, we’ll not have the same stigma issues about the visibility of hearing aids. We’ve been looking at each other with ear buds in for years—so much so that it’s trendy to have certain ones sticking out of your ears!

[lauramaeda]

Great video. I tend to waffle on the stigma issue. While I feel the request for repeated repeats is more obvious of a hearing issue than the visible use of a hearing aid, I sometimes feel the internal stigma to not self identify myself as a hearing aid wearer. I am very quick to identify to speakers with foreign accents as i know that there is no way i can bluff my way through a conversation. Being an introvert probably doesn’t help. I have different levels of acceptance based on the amount of internal stigma I am feeling in a situation. Some days, I would just like to wear a large sign o indicate i do not hear well. I believe treating a hearing loss is the best option for me however, I cannot always say I am comfortable and accepting of it.

[boomerrangerron]

Good video Cliff! I'm so happy and satisfied with my Phonak Paradise 50's, but only wish the darn charing station box wasn't so finicky! Sometimes it kicks off and I have to start all over again! FYI, I've been wearing hearing aides since my mid 40's, and I'm on my third set of RIC devices, and Boothtooth connectivity is a GodSend!

[sfrink]

You should actually bring up a photo of the original, first generation Phonak Audeo. They designed it to NOT look like a hearing aid. It was pretty sleek and cool looking.

Similarly, the Starkey ZON hearing aids was pretty cool, too.

[alina]

Can you make a review for the Advanced Bionics Naída CI M90 and the Sky CI M Soundprocessor?

[bigboss]

can you talk about spi-1005 .. i heard that this drug is now beginning on it's latest clinical trial phase . it's about meniere's disease but what if non meniere's patient take it just to treat his sensorineural hearing loss element ? and when it will be available for mass marketing ?

[McClowd]

is there smaller BTE with thin/smaller tube? kinda like the RIC, I've been having ear fluid and it causing damage my RIC constantly. I don't want to paid to get it fix every time.

[eddieashley]

Why don’t hearing aids have noise canceling?

[bacuba]

Dear Cliff, fine words, but the reality is sadly different. If you suffer from hearing loss you are excluded from many working sectors because you are considered disabled. All because companies care a lot about aesthetics and very little about substance. My son studied for years to become a deck officer in the merchant marine and yet with an average sensorineural hearing loss they deny him access, this is because the laws are still 80 years ago. So who hates you is not the people, but the system. In this regard I would like to point out that I don't think there are any hearing aids that can get wet in fresh or salt water and then start working again. And this says a lot about how little interest companies have in researching new technologies in this area. Today those who have a vision problem solve it with surgery in 90% of cases, while for hearing we stop at "glasses". In addition to this, most of the audio prosthetists I've visited over the years are nothing more than dealers and nothing else.

[lisamay]

Why can't somebody tell the Veterans Affairs that there are much better and more technologically advanced hearing aids that should be made available for veterans that could help them hear better? For over 10 years, they provided hearing aids for me that don't filter out background noises so I can hear conversations without turning the volume fully up. Doing so only makes everything in the environment louder, making everything sound more chaotic. That is very frustrating!

[aztravelguy]

A sponsored video of course can't mention the alternatives to Phonak (cough Styletto cough)... but also the other possibilities like devices that are plugs for those with gauged ears, or earrings, or devices built into glasses. Consumer choice in styles would sell more hearing aids to people who want more options.

Though personally, I could not care less about how they look. I've switched to my first RIC from many years with traditional BTEs. I was disappointed how small the RIC is - I get it, style over substance, it is discreet. However, if my RIC were the same size as my BTE, that extra space could have been more battery capacity. I care about function over form.

[senadheerahemalathabulaths]

ugly is not so important . We need moden technic and the clearance of voice

[bry]

Everyone uses earbuds, so the stigma against hearing aid is less