“My mum has been blind or partially sighted for many years, so it was doubly difficult for her when she started to lose her hearing too. However, as is her wont, she embraced the whole issue, and, when a close family friend told her he wore invisible hearing aids, she was convinced! His news came as a surprise to me too – his aids were so hidden and effective that I never knew he wore them! So, off went mum, to see Steven Hale. His treatment, processes and explanations were thorough and well-paced so mum could understand everything he said, and then she plumped for the Starkey Livio Edge devices.”
“I noticed a big difference immediately. One important change was that when my wife and I walked into mum’s flat, we could just shout out “Hello mum, we’re here” and she would instantly know that someone was in the room and who it was. Don’t forget, she can’t see to identify us, so this was a massive benefit straight away. Other people have also told me that it has made a huge difference FOR her, for example, the ease with which carers can now help her, and be safe in the knowledge that she has heard everything they have said and understood them. This, as opposed to mum previously only hearing part of their messages and having to ‘fill in the gaps’ which could have been dangerous. This mean mum could ask her own questions and make her own decisions, as she was in possession of all the information.”
“Something else that had immediate impact was the rechargeability of the Starkey aids. This meant that:
Mum never had to worry about being without batteries
No fiddly batteries had to be installed
As mum is blind, replacing batteries always involved me, and I found it a fiddly job too
If the charge runs out completely, you just put them on for an hour and you have your devices back – you couldn’t get to the shop and back to buy batteries in that time!”
“Owing to her blindness, mum has practiced being able to engage the hearing aids in the charging station so that she can do it completely independently. In fact, as mum has always been fastidious about saving power and electricity, the most challenging part is getting the carers to NOT turn the plug off!”
“With regards to enhanced hearing, the one-to-one performance is much easier. Mum tells me that in tiled rooms, or with a piano playing, she can still hear background noise, but this is still better than before.”
Final comments from Hugh:
“The cost is always something to consider, but, as we all know, you never get something for nothing. However, the Starkey Livio Edge is extremely easy to use and has lots of features which makes them much more user friendly than others I’ve known. The units are solid and work with one easy touch. My mum’s happy. Having seen the way these hearing aids have helped my mum I would definitely go for them straight away if I had to have help with my hearing – and I know I’d never run out of batteries!”
Hugh – son of very happy Starkey Livio Edge hearing aid wearer Ann.
