The numbers don’t lie: you will probably require hearing aids someday. A quarter of all people from 60 to 75, according to an NIDCD study, have loss of hearing and for people over 75 this number increases to 50%. The best way to deal with age-related loss of hearing is to use a hearing aid, but how can you be sure which style is best for you? Advances in technology through the years have corrected some of the issues traditionally connected to hearing aids, including an excessive amount of background noise and vulnerability to water damage. But to ensure that your choice of hearing aid is correct for you, there are still things you need to think about.
Look Closely at Directionality
Directionality is one crucial function you should look for, which is your hearing aid’s ability to focus on the specific noise around you (like a conversation) while keeping background sound to a minimum. Most hearing aids have different directionality systems, which either focus in on the noise directly in front of you, the sound that’s coming from different speakers, or a mix of those two.
Can You Use it With Your Phone?
It’s become apparent, we’re addicted to our cellphone as a nation. You more than likely have some type of cell phone, either a smartphone or an older style cell phone. And on the unlikely event that you don’t have any type of cell phone, you likely still have a land-line. So, when you’re trying out different hearing aids, you should test how they work with your phone. What is the sound like? Are you capable of discerning voices plainly? Is it Comfortable? Is it Bluetooth Ready? When shopping for new hearing aids, you need to take into account all of these.
Are You Likely to Wear it?
In the last few years, as noted above, the technology of hearing aids has significantly improved. One of those advances has been the size and shape of hearing aids, which have trended in the smaller and more comfortable direction. But there are undoubtedly pros and cons. It depends on what your particular needs are. A smaller hearing aid isn’t as obvious and may fit better but a larger one might be more powerful. You can get a hearing aid that fits directly into your ear canal and is all but invisible, but it won’t have many of the features available in larger hearing aids and will be prone to earwax clogs. On the other side of it, a behind the ear hearing aid is bigger and might be more noticeable, but often come with more directionality functions and have more options for sound amplification.
Exposure to Particular Background Noises
One of the biggest issues since hearing aid technology has been invented has been wind noise and the havoc it causes to wearers. Being outside during a windy day with a traditional hearing aid once meant that you couldn’t hear anything but the wind, which is could drive anyone crazy. you live in a windy area or if you’re an outdoor kind of person so you’ll want to suppress wind noises with your hearing aid decision so that conversations won’t have that annoying wind howl. Inform yourself about the many different hearing aid choices available to you. Call us.