Starkey Hearing Aids

[HearWHAC]

In article <960912224648_100759519 at emout12.mail.aol.com>, MrHiggins at aol.com 
says...
>...I can say that the CIC's have a
>higher rate of breakdown and warn patients accordingly...Many don't care as
>the idea of an aid that can't be seen is very appealing from a vanity
>perspective...First time user's tend to be as concerned with the looks as
>much as the hearing improvement...That will change with her second pair 
which
>will probably occur 3-5 years from now...As an experienced wearer she will 
be
> more discriminating in her hearing needs


The industry data has proven Mr. Higgins to be correct. The number of CIC's 
returned to the factories for credit within the first 90 days is much higher 
than for any other style hearing aid (like more than 25%). Doesn't this say 
something? And the incidence of repair is considerably higher for CICs. What 
does this say? 

CICs do appeal to the person who doesn't want their hearing aid to be 
"seen." Many dispensers use this approach very successfully in their 
advertising...it does attract people. And I have no problem with "attracting 
people" to obtain hearing help, provided the dispenser fits the "best" 
hearing aid for the hearing loss. Unfortunately, an advertisement promoting 
a hearing aid that cannot be seen can create a bias in the prospective 
hearing aid wearer that may cause them to purchase a hearing aid that is not 
the most suitable solution for their problem or pocketbook.

My greatest concern regarding CICs is twofold: the CICs' higher cost and my 
fear they will not give as many years of service as some of the other 
products we offer. I say this because we really do have to repair them more 
frequently. They can break down too often!

I am fascinated with Mr. Higgins' comments about a person losing their 
concern about the "smallness" of their first hearing aid. I contend that 
many persons decide after the first day with their first hearing aid they 
aren't concerned at all about the size of the hearing aid. Why should our 
concern about a hearing aid being seen be any different than our concern 
our eyeglasses might be seen?

Paul Woodard ;-)