mai multe detalii despre Lyric aici
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/health/15well.html .
modific: 2-3000 $ /an mi se pare aiurea
o marturisire a unui purtator :
"I had my appointment this morning and am currently trying the devices free for 30 days. I was quoted $2900/ year which includes unlimited office visits and replacement devices. (This was a promo rate at my office. They said after this month it'll go up to $3200/ year). You have to go in at least every 120 days for replacements.
So far, I am very pleased with the Lyric aids. They are completely invisible to anyone looking at your ear. The sound of my own voice is far superior to the CICs that I currently own. I can place my hands over my ears and get no feedback at all. They promise that sweating and getting wet are no problem, as the aids form a tight seal around the ear canal, allowing no moisture behind the device. If you swim, you're not supposed to really submerge your head too much. For me, that's not really a problem. I don't swim all that much, and if I do, it doesn't bother me to not put my head under the water for extended periods of time.
It comes with a magnet that you can use to adjust the volume or put the devices in sleep mode. Sleep mode allows you to experience your regular, bad hearing for sleeping. You can also turn them completely off if you want. It's very easy to operate.
It hasn't been 24 hours yet, but I'm very happy and excited so far. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask me. I'll let you all know how the month progresses."
"Unfortunately, after my initial excitement, the Lyric ended up not being a great solution for me at this time. The material they're made out of iritated my skin a bit and my ears produced a lot of wax and dead skin. I have fairly sensitive skin and I was afraid this may happen. The doctor said they're working with dermatologists and are continually revising the material they're made out of to make them as hypo-allergenic as possible."
"I purchased Lyric aids four months ago and would say that, overall, I am satisfied. I am active in the business world and deliver seminars and workshops to 28-55 year old audiences where mature middle age is a plus, old age is not. I was having increasing difficulty hearing women in the back of the room. it was difficult to distinguish the words of women, and sometimes men with foreign accents, on the telephone. In noisy restaurants many words were lost from people sitting at the same table with me.
The Lyric successfully solved the first two problems. The third one, noisy restaurants, is still a challenge. In fact on higher volume settings it is probably worse. I pick up so many sounds at the high end that it drowns out the conversation of a person next to me. I'm still experimenting and have made some progress. By turning the volume quite low, the conversation sounds improve a lot.
The positives of the Lyric:
1. It is invisible.
2. You comfortably (after awhile even totally unaware of it) wear it 24 hours a day. When first installed it was uncomfortable for 3-4 days. On my second installation, the discomfort only lasted 1 day.
3. It is easily adjustable and others will likely not even be aware you are adjusting the volume
4. You can simply turn it to your normal hearing or turn it off (it then acts as ear plugs) and lets you sleep when there are noises around you.
5. They really are maintenance free. The only maintenance required is when the battery wears out. It is self-contained and you just get a new device when it expires. They indicate that the battery lasts approx. 110 days for the typical patient. My first ones only lasted 40 (I think it was a showering water problem). I'm on my second one installation now.
The negatives:
1. You do shower with it. It is water resistant, but not water proof. For the first few months I followed their advise to minimize the amount of water that got into my ears when showering. I still got some in, which dimished hearing temporarily and this sometimes caused loud feedback until I absorbed the water with a kleenex. I solved this problem by using a moldable wax type substance to block the ear opening. It quickly molds into place and is reusable for several days. It can be purchased at drugstores and is sold to prevent swimmers ears.
2. The problem with noisy environments (restaurants) I discussed above. The problem is the Lyric is a single channel instrument and the high sounds cannot be turned down while keeping the middle range high. The volume has to be the same for all of them.
3. It is expensive. You pay a subscription fee at the beginning of each enrollment year. Then everything is free -- replacement aids (when the batteries wear out) are put in as many times as necessary with no additional cost. If you lose the control device a new one is provided free.
It is certainly not perfect, but It is a good solution. I'm suspect it will get even better over time as the they overcome some of the technological limitations -- since you are on a subscripiton basis you receive the latest device when the batteries expire.
One last thought. Your brain is an integral part of the hearing loop. It takes time for it to adapt to sounds it is hearing. I find that, at 4 months on the Lyric, things are getting more and more natural. I'm sure that at one year they will be even more so."
