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Re:Ask HN: My father is starting to lose his hearing. What s... by troydavis on Wednesday January 17, 2024 @09:09PM (#39036617)
There are relatively few reversible/preventable causes at that age. This is just life. What he can probably do is eliminate nearly all practical impact from this problem.

To do that, get an audiologist-administered hearing test, then discuss the results with an otologist/ENT. Often this is done in the same office visit.

Among other things, the audiologist will test where the loss is occurring (Google "Rinne and Weber tests" or bone vs. air conduction), and at which frequencies. Get hearing devices tailored to those frequencies. The otologist will recommend options. These aren't likely to be all that expensive.

There's no real opportunity for greed or snake oil here. If the otologist's advice works, the results are literally audible.

This is not a difficult problem to almost completely solve, and it makes a huge difference in quality of life and healthspan: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-preventi... (Update: apparently this study was retracted - see reply)

Re:Ask HN: My father is starting to lose his hearing. What s... by fn-mote on Wednesday January 17, 2024 @10:26PM (#39037334)
> it makes a huge difference in quality of life and healthspan: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/[...]

I agree with everything else, but:

That study you cited has been withdrawn for fraud:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2...

Recent discussion:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38894636

Re:Ask HN: My father is starting to lose his hearing. What s... by wrycoder on Wednesday January 17, 2024 @10:19PM (#39037278)
Medicare in the US doesn't cover hearing "devices" unless you need cochlear implants.

Most people have mild hearing loss. They shouldn't need to spend thousands for a pair of hearing aids, which deliver little relative to their price. Miniature electronics have improved markedly over the past couple of decades, but for some reason FDA approved hearing aids have not participated in those gains in usability and cost reduction.

Re:Ask HN: My father is starting to lose his hearing. What s... by troydavis on Wednesday January 17, 2024 @11:07PM (#39037684)
> Medicare in the US doesn't cover

Thanks for the correction. I removed that sentence.