Getting The Most Out of Your Hearing Aids

If you aren’t really rich, a car really isn’t an impulse purchase. Which means you will most likely do a great deal of research ahead of time. You take a good look at things like gas mileage, overall price, and customer reviews. Google is your best friend these days. This amount of research is logical! For most people who aren’t wealthy, it will take a long time to pay off the thousands of dollars you’re about to spend. So you want to make certain your investment is well spent.

You’ll be considering how your purchase best suits your lifestyle and also practical things like safety, gas mileage, etc. What type of vehicle do you want? How much room do you require for weekly supplies? How fast do you want your car to be?

Put another way, to get the most out of your new car, you need to assess your options and make some decisions. And when you’re selecting new hearing aids, it’s essential to have this same attitude. They’re still an investment even though they cost a lot less than a new car. Figuring out which device will fit your lifestyle best and which device works best overall, is the best way to get the most from your investment.

Hearing aid advantages

In just the same way that you can discuss the benefits of a car in very general terms, you can also talk about the benefits of hearing aids in a similarly broad way. Hearing aids are pretty awesome!

Yes, they help your hearing, but for most individuals, the benefits are more tangible than that. Staying involved with your friends and family will be a lot easier with a good pair of hearing aids. You’ll be able to more easily follow conversations during dinner, listen to your grandkids tell you about fascinating dinosaurs, and converse with the checkout clerk at the supermarket.

With all these benefits, it stands to reason that you’d begin to ask, “How can I help my hearing aids last longer?” You want to keep those benefits coming!

Are higher quality hearing aids always more costly?

There may be some people out there who would presume that the best way to make your hearing aid work better and last longer is to simply purchase the most expensive device possible.

And, to be sure, hearing aids can be an investment. There’s a reason why some hearing aids are expensive in the first place:

• The technology inside of a hearing aid is very small and very advanced. That means you’re getting a very potent technological package.
• Hearing aids are also designed to last for a long time. Particularly if you take care of them.

But the most costly model won’t necessarily be your best fit or work the best. How severe your hearing loss is and, obviously, your budget are a couple of the variables to think about. Do some hearing aids last longer than others? Sure! But the cost of the device isn’t always the deciding variable.

In order to keep your hearing aids in good working condition, as with any other investment, they will require regular care and maintenance. What’s more, your hearing aids will have to be tuned to your ears and adjusted for your distinct level of hearing loss.

Make sure you get the best hearing aids for you

So, what are your options? When it comes to hearing aids, you’ll have a number of different styles and types to select from. We can help you determine which hearing aids will be ideal for your hearing needs. Here are the options you will have to choose from:

• Completely-in-the-Canal Hearing Aids (CIC): For people who want their hearing aids to be discrete and also provide high-quality sound, these hearing aids will be the best choice. But with this type of hearing aid, battery life, and overall longevity is usually shorter. The small size also means you don’t get some of the most sophisticated functions.
• In-the-Canal Hearing Aids (ITC): These hearing aids are mostly hidden because they are molded to your ear canal. They will typically include more high-tech features being slightly bigger than CIC models. Some of these features can be a bit tricky to manipulate by hand (because the devices are still fairly small). If you want your hearing aid to be discrete but also have some advanced features, this type will be ideal.
• In-the-Ear Hearing Aids: This type of hearing aid is molded to sit completely inside your outer ear. A “half shell” version sits in your lower ear and a “full shell” version fits entirely inside your ear. These devices are more exposed but can include sophisticated and powerful microphones, making them an excellent option for noise control or complex hearing conditions.
• Behind-the-Ear Hearing Aids (BTE): The speaker of this device fits in your ear and the more bulky electronic part sits behind your ear making them the best of both worlds in a way. The small tube that connects the two parts is still pretty discrete. These hearing aids offer many amplification choices making them quite popular. These kinds are a great compromise between visibility and power.
• Receiving-in-the-Canal (or in the Ear) Hearing Aids (RIC or RITE): This is a lot like BTE hearing aids, except the speaker part sits in the ear canal. This makes them even less visible, with the added benefit of decreasing things like wind noise.
• Open-Fit Hearing Aids: Open-fit hearing aids tend to let low-frequency sounds enter the ear even while you’re using the device. This makes them suitable for people who can hear those low-frequencies pretty well (but have difficulty with high-frequency sounds). It isn’t a good option for all forms of hearing loss, but it does work well for many individuals.

Pros and Cons of over-the-counter hearing aids

Over-the-counter hearing aids (or OTC hearing aids, to keep inundating you with acronyms) are yet another alternative to consider. The difficulty is that OTC hearing aids are kind of like OTC medications, they work fine in a basic way. But if your hearing loss calls for a set of more powerful hearing aids or more specialized hearing aids, OTC devices might fall somewhat short. In general, OTC hearing aids can’t be specifically tuned to your hearing like prescription hearing aids can.

No matter what type of hearing aid you choose to invest in, it’s always a good plan to talk to us about what will work best for your particular requirements.

Repair and upkeep

Of course, once you’ve gone to all the trouble to select your perfect hearing aid type, you should take care of it. This is, again, like a car which also needs maintenance.

So, now you’re thinking: how frequently should my hearing aids be assessed? Generally, you should schedule a regular maintenance and cleaning appointment for your hearing aids every six-to-twelve months. By doing this you can be certain everything is in good working order.

You should also get familiar with your warranty. If and when you need repair, knowing what’s covered by that warranty and what’s not can save you some money! So now you’re wondering: how do I make my hearing aids last longer? The answer is usually simple: good maintenance and a great warranty.

So… what’s the best hearing aid?

There is no single best all-time hearing aid. Every hearing specialist may have a different model that they feel is the best.

Which hearing aids fit your hearing loss requirements will be the ones that are best for you. Some people will go for a minivan, others for a sport utility vehicle. The same goes with hearing aids, it just depends on your situation.

But the more you know ahead of time and the better informed you are, the easier it will be to find the hearing aids that are ideal for you. Schedule a hearing assessment with us today!

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