Blenheim local John Apps is an experienced hearing aid wearer who has recently made the change to Lyric.
“I wish I had known about Lyrics years ago and am surprised other hearing aid providers did not even mention them when I explained the problems I was having with conventional aids.“
I am a 67-year-old retired emergency medicine doctor, who enjoys the outdoors here in Marlborough and all over the world. I lead treks to Everest Base camp, teach for Landsar (Land Search and Rescue) & upskill combat medics in Ukraine. I had struggled with hearing aids for about 10 years, before being introduced to Lyrics.
John near Base Camp at Mt Everest
My problem with the conventional aids were:
- An absolute pain to take off/on when using the stethoscope at work. I tried many options, including headphones but none were useful. I eventually retired from front-line medicine due largely to my hearing problems.
- BTE aids are easily snagged by face masks and unintentionally thrown in the bin.
- Very poor sound quality in the outdoor environment due to a heap of factors including rubbing on the aid by hats & sunglasses, gross amplification of gravel crunching under-foot & wind noise and poor directional location. The multiple settings on BTE aids didn’t help!
- The daily requirement to charge-up; ok at home, but a real issue on multi-day outdoor trips.
- Maybe I’m a bit rough with them, but the receivers seem delicate!
I tried a number of increasingly expensive aids, without success. I explained my frustration to Blackmore Audiology, having given up on a well known chain of hearing aid providers. I was initially skeptical about the concept of disposable, analogue, completely in the canal aids, together with the annual subscription cost, but gave them a go.
The fitting process was straightforward, painless and well explained. I was given a removal tool, which doubles as a magnetic on/off switch & volume controller and a review appointment a few days ahead.
Walking home from the clinic was such a different audio experience! Natural sounding noises rather than digitally compressed, well-balanced sounds from traffic not over-whelming speech, much more accurate sound location and no rubbing sounds from sunglasses.
They worked well with the stethoscope, I was concerned about creating feedback with the stethoscope ear buds, but this didn’t occur.
My wife even reported I was responding better!
To summarise the benefits for me:
- Fit & forget. Battery lasts 2-3 months.
- Better, more natural, sound quality compared to digital aids.
- Better directional location.
- Better in noisy environments, but not perfect.
- No rubbing on the aid by hats, sunglasses etc.
- No recharging or battery swaps. Great for travel & outdoor adventures.
- Can use stethoscope as normal. Wish I had tried them years ago!
- I’m not going to lose them!
- Eliminates one of the morning chores: no need to fit your hearing aids on waking!
- The Lyrics worked well in outdoor environments with temperatures ranging from 41 C in northern Spain to subzero in the Himalayas.
Disadvantages:
- Cost, subscription is an ongoing expense.
- Will not survive water immersion, so need to be taken out for swimming & diving.
- Potential to cause ear canal pain, but easily removed with the supplied tool.
- The disposable concept doesn’t sit easily with me; maybe refurbishment could be a future option?