Solar-powered hearing aids!

[Grizzleyette___Adams]

The older we get the faster our hearing diminishes. More so if you, like me, went to a lot of great rock concerts over the years...

When the Stuff Hits The Fan...and your supply of hearing aid batteries dwindle to nothingness, will you be stuck in a world of silence at a time when you really need your sense of hearing the most?

I can tell you about my personal experience with the world's first solar-powered hearing aid:
http://solarear.com.br/

Here are the specs for the individual products. (PDFs) http://solarear.com.br/professionals/

I bought one in 1999 from this company for under $200, shipping included, back when the manufacturer was a one-man operation in a village hut in Botswana, Africa.

His motivation to create the world's first solar hearing aid was to give nearly-deaf villagers a chance at life. Literally. The villagers were convinced that deaf and hard-of-hearing children were influenced by demons, and the innocent children were seriously shunned by the entire village and not treated well (to put it politely). They barely survived on the outskirts of their village and were easy prey for things larger than themselves.

This man knew that to save these children, he must help them to be able to hear. Unfortunately, hearing aids are notoriously expensive and batteries would not be affordable or easy to obtain on a regular basis. So he set about to make the world's first solar-powered hearing aids.

For a long time, he made only one kind, a rough looking box-type about the size of a deck of cards that fit into your shirt pocket. It came with old fashioned corded earpieces.

It is very, very powerful! I am profoundly hard of hearing, but man! With this piece of wonder, I can hear two mosquitoes arguing which kind of people tastes better, the fat ones or the skinny ones...

It is more powerful than the ones sold today for thousands of dollars. Kid you NOT. When I was little, the box kind (almost like the solar hearing aid) was the kind I wore, and they are, by design, more powerful than behind (or in) the ear types.

Because I was such a rambunctious kid, to secure my hearing aid, my mother sewed small flannel pockets with a button to secure the top flap on all of my shirts. (Flannel because any other cloth would be too stiff and rub up on the microphone which produced a scratchy sound that nearly drove me insane.)

The company has grown by leaps and bounds since I bought the solar hearing aid in 1999 and they are offering lots more variety these days.

Happy with your current aid? They sell solar - rechargeable hearing aid batteries too! (#13, #313, #675 NiMh or equivalent sized NiMh batteries)

You can get your local hearing aid store to make custom ear molds to fit you. TIP: when the impressions are being made, do NOT yawn, talk, cough, etc. or else the finished earmolds won't fit properly. The resulting feedback will be a problem and your aid will whistle at you until you go crazy.

NO, I am not an affiliate of theirs. Just one very satisfied user who is ready to rock the days when there are no more hearing aid batteries.

Thought some of you would like to read a first-hand experience with a solar hearing aid.


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[Cascadian]

That's cool, thanks for sharing. I have been putting off hearing aids for awhile. Now I say what? But then half second later my brain finishes processing the blanks and I realize I don't care. Unfortunately I have hear people repeat stupidity like "I like Occasio she has some good Ideas".

 

[Weedygarden]

From the people I know who have hearing aids, I understand that the cost of the batteries can add up. These solar-powered hearing aids could make a big difference for situations with no power or access to batteries.

I never liked loud noises, loud noisy places, loud concerts, loud music. I was always the person turning the music down, because I could hear the nuances better when it was lower, as opposed to louder. I never understood trying to shout over loud music or why loud music was preferable to being at a lower sound.

In my mother's family, her mother and almost all of her siblings have had hearing aids. Since I resemble that side of my family more, I have thought that this day is coming for me.

 

[The Innkeeper]

Thanks. Hearing aid batteries are expensive. Cheapest place I have found for mine b6 faris Costco, about 1/3 - 1/4 the price of anywhere else. Like eyeglasses the only thing worse than having to use them is not having them