Saving money just feels great, right? Getting a great deal can be invigorating, and more gratifying the better the bargain. So letting your coupon make your buying decisions for you, always chasing after the least expensive items, is all too easy. But chasing a bargain when it comes to purchasing hearing aids can be a big mistake.
If you need hearing aids to treat hearing loss, choosing the “cheapest” option can have health consequences. Avoiding the development of health problems such as depression, dementia, and the danger of a fall is the whole point of using hearing aids in the first place. The trick is to find the hearing aid that best suits your lifestyle, your hearing requirements, and your budget.
Tips for choosing affordable hearing aids
Affordable is not the same thing as cheap. Keep an eye on affordability as well as functionality. That will help you get the best hearing aid possible for your personal budget. These tips will help.
Tip #1: Do your homework: Affordable hearing aids exist
Hearing aids have a reputation for taking a toll on your pocketbook, 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 number of prices. If you’ve already decided that the most effective hearing aids are out of reach, you’re probably more likely to search the bargain bin than look for affordable and reliable options, and that can have a lasting, harmful impact on your hearing and overall health.
Tip #2: Ask what’s covered
Insurance may cover some or all of the expenses associated with getting a hearing aid. Some states, in fact, have laws requiring insurance companies to cover hearing aids for children or adults. It never hurts to ask. If you’re a veteran, you might be eligible for hearing aids through government programs.
Tip #3: Your hearing loss is unique – choose hearing aids that can calibrate to your hearing needs
Hearing aids are, in some ways, similar to prescription glasses. The frame is fairly universal (depending on your sense of fashion, of course), but the prescription is calibrated for your specific needs. Similarly, hearing aids might look alike cosmetically, but each hearing aid is tuned to the individual user’s hearing loss needs.
You won’t get the same benefits by grabbing some cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf (or, in many cases, results that are even remotely helpful). These amplification devices boost all frequencies instead of boosting only the frequencies you’re having a hard time hearing. What’s the significance of this? Usually, hearing loss will only impact some frequencies while you can hear others perfectly. If you increase all frequencies, the ones you have no problem hearing will be too loud. In other words, it doesn’t actually solve the problem and you’ll wind up not using the cheaper device.
Tip #4: Not all hearing aids have the same features
There’s a temptation to view all of the great technology in modern hearing aids and think that it’s all extra, just bells and whistles. The problem is that if you wish to hear sounds properly (sounds such as, you know, bells and whistles), you likely need some of that technology. Hearing aids have innovative technologies calibrated specifically for people who have hearing loss. Many modern models have artificial intelligence that helps block out background noise or connect with each other to help you hear better. In addition, thinking about where (and why) you’ll be using your aids will help you decide on a model that fits your lifestyle.
That technology is necessary to compensate for your hearing loss in a healthy way. Hearing aids are much more sophisticated than a basic, tiny speaker that boosts the volume of everything. And that brings us to our last tip.
Tip #5: A hearing amplification device is not a hearing aid
Okay, say this with me: a hearing amplification device is not a hearing aid. If you take nothing else away from this article, we hope it’s that. Because the providers of amplification devices have a monetary interest in convincing the consumer that their devices work like hearing aids. But that’s dishonest marketing.
Let’s break it down. A hearing amplification device:
- Takes all sounds and turns up their volume.
- Is typically made cheaply.
- Gives the user the ability to control the basic volume but that’s about it.
Conversely, a hearing aid:
- Has batteries that are long lasting.
- Can be shaped specifically to your ears for optimal comfort.
- Has highly skilled specialists that adjust your hearing aids to your hearing loss symptoms.
- Can be programmed with various settings for different places.
- Can regulate background noise.
- Can pick out and boost specific sound types (like the human voice).
- Is calibrated to amplify only the frequencies you have a hard time hearing.
- Will help safeguard your hearing health.
Your ability to hear is too important to go cheap
Everybody has a budget, and that budget is going to restrict your hearing aid options no matter what price range you’re looking in.
This is why an affordable solution tends to be the emphasis. When it comes to hearing loss, the long term advantages of hearing loss management and hearing aids is well documented. That’s why you should concentrate on an affordable solution. Just remember that your hearing deserves better than “cheap.”