Saving money just feels good, right? It can be thrilling when you’ve received a good deal on something, and the larger discount, the more satisfied you are. It’s a little too easy, then, to make the cost your main criteria, to always choose the least expensive option, to let your coupons make your buying choices for you. When it comes to purchasing a pair of hearing aids, going after a bargain can be a big mistake.
If you require hearing aids to manage hearing loss, going for the “cheapest” option can have health consequences. Avoiding the development of health problems including depression, dementia, and the danger of a fall is the whole point of using hearing aids after all. The key is to find the hearing aid that best suits your lifestyle, your hearing needs, and your budget.
Tips for picking affordable hearing aids
Affordable is not the same thing as cheap. Keep an eye on affordability as well as functionality. That will help you find the most ideal hearing aid possible for your personal budget. These tips will help.
You can get affordable hearing aids.
Hearing aid’s reputation for being extremely expensive is not always reflected in the reality of the situation. Most manufacturers sell hearing aids in a broad range of price points and work with financing companies to make their devices more affordable. If you’ve already decided that the most reliable hearing aids are too expensive, you’re probably more likely to search the bargain bin than look for affordable and effective options, and that can have a long-term, harmful affect on your hearing and overall health.
Tip #2: Find out what your insurance will cover
Some or even all of the expense of hearing aids might be covered by your insurance. Some states, in fact, have laws mandating insurance companies to cover hearing aids for children or adults. Asking never hurts. If you’re a veteran, you might be eligible for hearing aids through government programs.
Tip #3: Find hearing aids that can be calibrated to your hearing loss
Hearing aids are, in some ways, similar to prescription glasses. The frame is pretty universal (depending on your sense of fashion, of course), but the prescription is adjusted for your specific needs. Hearing aids, too, have distinct settings, which we can calibrate for you, tailored to your precise needs.
Buying a cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf is not going to give you the same benefits (or any helpful results at all in many instances). These are more like amplification devices that raise the sound of all frequencies, not only the ones you’re having difficulty hearing. What’s the importance of this? Typically, hearing loss will only affect some frequencies while you can hear others perfectly fine. If you raise all frequencies, the ones you have no problem hearing will be too loud. In other words, it doesn’t really solve the problem and you’ll wind up not using the cheaper device.
Tip #4: Not all hearing aids do the same things
It can be tempting to think that all of the modern technology in a good hearing aid is simply “bells and whistles”. But you will need some of that technology to hear sounds clearly. The specialized technology in hearing aids can be dialed in to the user’s level of hearing loss. Many modern designs have artificial intelligence that helps block out background noise or communicate with each other to help you hear better. Also, choosing a model that fits your lifestyle will be easier if you consider where (and why) you’ll be using your hearing aids.
It’s essential, in order to compensate for your hearing loss in a reliable way, that you have some of this technology. A little speaker that cranks the volume up on everything is far from the sophistication of a modern hearing aid. And that brings up our last tip.
Tip #5: An amplification device isn’t the same thing as a hearing aid
Alright, say this with me: a hearing amplification device is not a hearing aid. This is the number one takeaway from this article. Because the makers of amplification devices have a monetary interest in convincing the consumer that their devices do what hearing aids do. But that simply isn’t the case.
Let’s take a closer look. A hearing amplification device:
- Is often cheaply made.
- Turns up the volume on all sounds.
- Supplies the user with little more than simple volume controls (if that).
Conversely, a hearing aid:
- Has long-lasting batteries.
- Can be programmed with various settings for different places.
- Has highly qualified professionals that program your hearing aids to your hearing loss symptoms.
- Can be shaped specifically to your ears for optimal comfort.
- Is calibrated to amplify only the frequencies you have trouble hearing.
- Can be programed to recognize specific sound profiles, like the human voice, and amplify them.
- Can limit background noise.
- Will help safeguard your hearing health.
Your ability to hear is too important to go cheap
Everyone has a budget, and that budget is going to restrict your hearing aid options no matter what price range you’re looking in.
That’s why we tend to emphasize the affordable part of this. The long-term benefits of hearing aids and hearing loss treatment are well documented. That’s why you need to focus on an affordable solution. Don’t forget, cheap is less than your hearing deserves.”