Are you hearing or saying that more often? There may be a good reason.
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/07/americans-hearing-cdc-rural-urban-areas
My rural county where gunshots and chainsaws can be heard almost daily is one of the most impacted counties in Indiana.
Very interesting! Maybe the constant background noise in urban areas somehow protects you in later life from losing [part of] their function.
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The hearing loss prevalence map was raw data, not normalized for the age of the population. My county shows a high rate of hearing loss but it’s also an older population. I wonder how normalizing the data for the age of the population would change the map.
I recently got hearing aids (and also paid for my sister’s hearing aids). There’s evidence that hearing loss is a modifiable risk for dementia.
Wendy
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The ubiquitous gas powered leaf blowers are the bane of the warm weather months here. Many people use lawn service businesses to maintain their yard, and the company will come with 4 or 5 workers, all using the whining, high-rev gas powered leaf blowers at the same time. Fall season leaf collection is by far the worst time frame for it. People don’t seem to realize that mulching the leaves with their lawnmower a few times will make the leaf moving more efficient. Luckily in my area, an increasing number of people are starting to let their yard go a little wild, not trying to have an English Manor estate for a yard. But to each their own.
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(Sorry, just now seeing how off topic my reply is…LOL.)
When I lived in a big city suburb, I was the only home owner that mowed my leaves. I also left my mowed grass right there, ON THE LAWN!!! (GASP). Luckily it was an older neighborhood so no HOA to yell at me.
Neighbors were surprised how quickly “i managed” to turn around a weedy dustbowl of a front yard to dark green grass in two summers with no lawn service. Sigh.
(I also cut tall, unlike my one dang neighbor who thought scalping MY lawn on side of house was helping out…STOP IT! Took two years to stop them doing that.)
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The link in the article has a much more throrough breakdown of the data.
Been wearing hearing aids for over 9 years. Recently, Ms. Wolf “accidentally” stepped on one, destroying it beyond repair. Even if it could be repaired, it makes no sense to invest in 9 year old hearing aids.
My local hearing aid store would be happy to sell me a premium Oticon set for the low, low price of $6,500. Right.
Costco sells Phillips aids for $2,200. Same manufacturer as Oticon, but I understand that the software isn’t identical. Bummer.
Problem is my local Costco can’t see me until August. I made an appointment with a Costco 90 minutes away in May, but it’s still a long ways off. Double Bummer. I am on a waiting list locally and every time I shop there, I visit the hearing aid folks to see how it’s going. They can’t hire enough people. Triple Bummer.
So I’m like a hard-of-hearing peg-leg pirate walking around with 1 hearing aid for now. I can’t even hear the parrot on my shoulder. Quadruple Bummer.
How much does a pirate pay for corn?
A buck an ear.
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You could fly in and out of Europe possibly for better hearing aids for less money.
I do not know if that is true now but some years ago Western Europe had more advanced hearing aids than the US. Check on battery standard sizes.
Hopefully, the US manufacturers closed the gap. The EU aides have the amp as close to the inner ear as possible. The US aides years ago had the amp back in the aid. This meant the US aids had muffled sounds. The idea for the amp up in the system nearer the ear canal comes from how Bose speakers are built.
Maybe even go to Iceland or Greenland for less money.
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Interesting idea, if I was already planning a European trip. But I’d be concerned about getting them serviced in the states if something went wrong.
And I hate those incredibly small batteries. Big hands and small batteries don’t mix well. I’m getting rechargeable aids this time. I’m sure the European’s have rechargeables, but then you’d have to worry about a plug adapter.
Plus, we have a new health insurance plan this year that has a $2k reimbursement for hearing aids. Not sure I’d get that if I bought them out of system.
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I do not know the Canadian system, your insurance, or the voltage in Canada but it is worth a shot to research.