It just feels good to save money, right? It can be invigorating when you’ve found a good deal on something, and the larger discount, the more pleased you are. So letting your coupon make your buying choices for you, always looking for the least expensive products, is all too easy. When it comes to buying a pair of hearing aids, going after a bargain can be a big mistake.
If you need hearing aids to manage hearing loss, going for the “cheapest” option can have health consequences. After all, the whole point of using hearing aids is to be able to hear well and to prevent health problems related to hearing loss including mental decline, depression, and an increased risk of falls. The trick is to choose the hearing aid that best fits your lifestyle, your hearing requirements, and your budget.
Finding affordable hearing aids – some tips
Affordable is not the same thing as cheap. Look for affordability and functionality. That will help you find the most ideal hearing aid possible for your personal budget. These tips will help.
You can obtain affordable hearing aids.
Hearing aids have a reputation for taking a toll on your wallet, a reputation, though, is not always represented by reality. Most hearing aid manufacturers will partner with financing companies to make the device more budget friendly and also have hearing aids in a variety of prices. If you’ve started searching the bargain bin for hearing aids because you’ve already decided that really good effective models are out of reach, it could have serious health consequences.
Tip #1: Ask what’s covered
Insurance might cover some or all of the costs associated with getting a hearing aid. As a matter of fact, some states require that insurance cover them for both children and adults. Asking never hurts. If you’re a veteran, you might be eligible for hearing aids through government programs.
Tip #2: Your hearing loss is unique – choose hearing aids that can calibrate to your hearing situation
In some aspects, your hearing aids are a lot like prescription glasses. The frame is pretty universal (depending on your sense of style, of course), but the prescription is adjusted for your specific needs. Similarly, hearing aids may look the same cosmetically, but each hearing aid is tuned to the individual user’s hearing loss needs.
You won’t get the same results by grabbing some cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf (or any helpful results at all in many instances). These amplification devices boost all frequencies rather than raising only the frequencies you’re having trouble with. Why is this so significant? Hearing loss is often irregular, you can hear certain frequencies and sounds, but not others. If you raise all frequencies, the ones you have no trouble hearing will be too loud. You will probably end up not using this cheap amplification device because it doesn’t solve your real issue.
Tip #3: Not all hearing aids have the same features
There’s a temptation to look at all of the great technology in modern hearing aids and imagine that it’s all extra, simply bells and whistles. The problem with this idea is that if you wish to hear sounds clearly (sounds like, you know, bells and whistles), you most likely need some of that technology. Hearing aids have innovative technologies tuned specifically for people with 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 take into account where (and why) you’ll be using your hearing aids.
It’s crucial, in order to compensate for your hearing loss in an efficient way, that you have some of this technology. Hearing aids are much more sophisticated than a basic, tiny speaker that boosts the volume of everything. Which brings us to our last tip.
Tip #4: A hearing amplification device is not a hearing aid
Alright, repeat after me: A hearing aid is not the same thing as an amplification device. This is the most important takeaway from this article. Because the makers of amplification devices have a monetary interest in convincing the consumer that their devices work like hearing aids. But that simply isn’t true.
Let’s have a closer look. A hearing amplification device:
- Supplies the user with little more than simple volume controls (if that).
- Takes all sounds and turns up their volume.
- Is usually made cheaply.
A hearing aid, on the other hand:
- Can be programmed with different settings for different places.
- Will help protect your hearing health.
- Can achieve maximum comfort by being molded to your ear.
- Can reduce background noise.
- Can be programed to recognize distinct sound profiles, such as the human voice, and amplify them.
- Has long-lasting batteries.
- Is calibrated to amplify only the frequencies you have a hard time hearing.
- Has highly skilled professionals that program your hearing aids to your hearing loss symptoms.
Your ability to hear is too crucial to go cheap
No matter what your budget is, that budget will restrict your options depending on your general price range.
That’s why we normally emphasize the affordable part of this. When it comes to hearing loss, the long term benefits of hearing loss treatment and hearing aids is well recognized. That’s why you should focus on an affordable solution. Just remember that your hearing deserves better than “cheap.”