Anyone experienced cros or bicross hearing aids?

Do you regret purchasing Cros/BiCros Hearing Aid?

  • I hate it! Absolute waste of money

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I am okay with it! Somewhat, there are pros and cons

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I love it! It has helped me tremendously

    Votes: 1 33.3%

  • None of the above, please explain why.

    Votes: 2 66.7%
  • Total voters
    3
Sahara4Ever

Sahara4Ever

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Has anyone experienced Cros or BiCros Hearing Aids?
  1. What are your general feelings about it? Did it make a difference in your hearing
  2. I know there are only a few brands (ie Phonak) who make them. Which brands are a good value? They are quite expensive
  3. Is it worth it for single sided hearing loss?
  4. Does it help locate the origin of sounds for single sided hearing loss? (I am completely deaf in one ear) The first audiologist no device can help with directional hearing but another audiologist said it can help some.
  5. How much does it cost? Is it worth it?
  6. How often do you replace it?
  7. Why does most insurance not cover hearing devices but will cover Rx glasses?
  8. Are you better able to hear with loud background noise?
  9. Are you able to hear the direction of cop's sirens when at an intersection?
 
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Not my experience, but just to give you an idea, my mum in law tried out a cross hearing aid since she has little hearing in one ear and she told us it only made things harder because she was clueless on the direction, so she didn't want to keep it.

Though overall she hears reasonably good, she only has problems when people are having a conversation on her side where she hears less, so she makes sure when sitting at a restaurant or so she's positioned better for making things easier
 
Thank you so much for the link to phonak cros hearing aids. I do wish there were more reviews. :(
 
Sahara4Ever said:
Thank you so much for the link to phonak cros hearing aids. I do wish there were more reviews. :(
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You couldn't find more ? I know it's so hard to know what to buy when it come to hearing aids there are many new one coming on the market all the time . People are trying to made $$$ on all the baby boomers that are getting old and first time HA wearer . Do have an audi you can go to ?
 
Yes. I do but she is a bit pricey. I do wish there were tons of amazon reviews I can look at but unfortunately isn't much info.
 
I recently had a change in my hearing and when I went to my Audiologist, she recommended that I try out the Widex BiCros hearing aids (I am profound on the right and moderate on the left) and these have changed my life. Every day I hear new things that I haven't heard before!
  1. What are your general feelings about it? Did it make a difference in your hearing
- Definitely! As I was completely deaf on the right side, I was not aware of a lot of sounds I was missing! Things like talking to my wife while driving, using a phone on my right ear when I have my headset on my left ear (my job requires that I listen to voice loops while on console), all things that I was missing and I can now hear. It has completely changed my life for the better.
  1. I know there are only a few brands (ie Phonak) who make them. Which brands are a good value? They are quite expensive
- I have the Widex dream hearing aid with the BiCros. I had never heard about Widex before my audiologist recommended it, but they are a high quality hearing aid.
  1. Is it worth it for single sided hearing loss?
- Totally!
  1. Does it help locate the origin of sounds for single sided hearing loss? (I am completely deaf in one ear) The first audiologist no device can help with directional hearing but another audiologist said it can help some.
- It does not. All it does is helps with picking up sounds on the right side that I was previously missing. I still frequently lose track of where the sound is coming from. The hearing aid has processing that helps dampen noise, but it doesn't help with determining what direction the sound is coming from.
  1. How much does it cost? Is it worth it?
- My hearing aids were $3,795 for the two of them. Basically, the Cros is a second complete hearing aid, so it's double the cost of a single hearing aid. Luckily my insurance covered $2,000 of it.
  1. How often do you replace it?
- I would say it's pretty much like any other hearing aid, but I think the warranty on this is 2 years.
  1. Why does most insurance not cover hearing devices but will cover Rx glasses?
- Good question! I've been blessed to have Insurance that partially covers hearing aids for my job. In the last couple years, though, they went from covering it 100% to having a maximum of $2,000, so it would only bite me for the Cros solution. I think it's definitely worth it.
  1. Are you better able to hear with loud background noise?
- It depends on the adjusting of the hearing aid. It does have the ability to determine direction your head is facing and block out background noise, but you are picking up more noise from the side you were previously completely deaf on.
  1. Are you able to hear the direction of cop's sirens when at an intersection?
- No, but if the sirens are on your deaf side, you could hear it. Just not able to determine direction.

I have had this hearing aid since March, so if you have any other questions, feel free to ask and I can try and provide my experience with them.
 
Thank you so much bazl this was more than helpful! I dread that I have to pay everything but I feel like it is important. I almost got hit by a car today. Didn't see it coming and was so tired that I didn't look left.
 
My aunt (sort of she's an aunt through marriage) uses a CROS hearing aid now, after using one of the larger power models for many years. She claims to love it. It seems to help her localize sounds a bit better and I think it's more comfortable for her. I've never seen her take them off or shut them down which is more than I can say for myself
 
I wore a bicross for quite a number of years (I now have CIs). It helped nothing at all with directionality but it did help a lot to deal with conversations from the "deaf" side - for example, when driving.
 
I have the Phonak Naida Q90 with a bi-cross. See my responses below in red

  1. What are your general feelings about it? Did it make a difference in your hearing Yes it makes a huge difference, I don't have to worry about what side people sit down next to me and it makes me aware when someone comes up to me on my deaf side and says something. I feel I hear better, since I can pick up sounds without having to turn my head and I don't miss sounds just because they were on my bad side.
  2. I know there are only a few brands (ie Phonak) who make them. Which brands are a good value? They are quite expensive I have the Phonak since it is wireless, it was expensive though and I go through batteries every 2-1/2 days. At the time Phonak was the only one with wireless capability.
  3. Is it worth it for single sided hearing loss? I think so, it was always a little stressful trying make sure I get people on the correct side for me or getting somewhere early enough to sit where I needed to. Also, I'm deaf in my right ear so when I was driving it was very difficult to hear someone in the passenger seat. I hated being surprised when people came up to me from behind at my desk on my bad side and I didn't know they were there and they'd have to tap my shoulder.
  4. Does it help locate the origin of sounds for single sided hearing loss? (I am completely deaf in one ear) The first audiologist no device can help with directional hearing but another audiologist said it can help some. I'm completely deaf in my right ear, it does not help with directional hearing at all for me. I've been deaf in my right ear since I was 3 years old, I'm 34 now. I just makes aware of sounds you might have missed on your bad side, but I personally can't tell where its coming from.
  5. How much does it cost? Is it worth it? I got mine a about 3 years ago and I got what I believe was the top of the line Naida which I think was $2,400 and the bi-cross side was $1,200. I had Kaiser and they had way better pricing than anywhere else I looked, I don't recall the exact price though.
  6. How often do you replace it? I haven't had to replace mine yet, but I don't see it being any different than a normal hearing aid. I'm going to be going to a Cochlear Implant on my deaf side, I've already started the process.
  7. Why does most insurance not cover hearing devices but will cover Rx glasses? Some insurance does cover HAs, at my last employer I got $2,200 an ear every 3 years. It just costs the employer more to provide that coverage. I feel it should be required, it is a necessity I can't do my job with out it.
  8. Are you better able to hear with loud background noise? The bi-cross makes no difference here, the main hearing aid is going to process the same. Also, I bought the remote control accessory which if you had two normal hearing aids would allow you to "zoom" in on a certain direction (focus the microphones to sounds front, left, right, back) this doesn't work with the bi-cross.
  9. Are you able to hear the direction of cop's sirens when at an intersection? No
 
jstegeman said:
I wore a bicross for quite a number of years (I now have CIs). It helped nothing at all with directionality but it did help a lot to deal with conversations from the "deaf" side - for example, when driving.
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What are Cls?
 
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