Saving money just feels great, right? Getting a good deal can be exhilarating, and more gratifying the bigger the deal. So letting your coupon make your buying decisions for you, always going after the least expensive products, is all too easy. When it comes to buying a pair of hearing aids, chasing a bargain can be a big mistake.
Health repercussions can result from going for the cheapest option if you require hearing aids to manage hearing loss. Avoiding the development of health issues such as depression, dementia, and the risk of a fall is the entire point of using hearing aids in the first place. Choosing the correct hearing aid to fit your hearing needs, lifestyle, and budget is the key.
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 most ideal hearing aid possible for your personal budget. These tips will help.
Tip #1: Do your homework: Affordable hearing aids exist
Hearing aid’s reputation for being incredibly expensive is not necessarily reflected in the reality of the situation. Most hearing aid makers will partner up with financing companies to make the device more affordable and also have hearing aids in a number of prices. If you’ve already decided that the most reliable hearing aids are out of reach, you’re probably more likely to search the bargain bin than seek out affordable and effective options, and that can have a long-term, detrimental affect on your hearing and overall health.
Tip #2: Find out what your insurance will cover
Some or even all of the cost of hearing aids may be covered by your insurance. Some states, in fact, have laws mandating insurance companies to cover hearing aids for kids or adults. It never hurts to ask. There are government programs that frequently supply hearing aids for veterans.
Tip #3: Look for hearing aids that can be tuned to your hearing loss
In some aspects, your hearing aids are a lot like prescription glasses. Depending on your sense of fashion, the frame comes in a few options, but the exact prescription differs significantly from person to person. Hearing aids, too, have specific settings, which we can tune for you, personalized to your exact needs.
You won’t get the same benefits by grabbing some cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf (or any useful results at all in many cases). These amplification devices increase all frequencies rather than boosting only the frequencies you’re having a hard time hearing. What’s the importance of this? Normally, hearing loss will only impact some frequencies while you can hear others perfectly. If you raise the volume enough to hear the frequencies that are too quiet, you’ll make it painful in the frequencies you can hear without a device. You will probably end up not using this cheap amplification device because it doesn’t resolve your real issue.
Tip #4: Different hearing aids have different capabilities
There’s a temptation to look at all of the amazing technology in modern hearing aids and think that it’s all extra, simply bells and whistles. The problem with this idea is that in order to hear sounds properly (sounds like, you know, bells and whistles), you probably need some of that technology. The sophisticated technology in hearing aids can be dialed in to the user’s level of hearing loss. Many modern designs have artificial intelligence that helps filter out background noise or communicate with each other to help you hear better. Also, selecting a model that fits your lifestyle will be simpler 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 a reliable way, that you have some of this technology. Hearing aids are a lot more advanced than a simple, tiny speaker that amplifies everything. And that brings us to our last tip.
Tip #5: A hearing amplification device isn’t a hearing aid
Okay, say this with me: A hearing aid is not the same thing as an amplification device. If you take nothing else away from this article, we hope it’s that. Because the providers of amplification devices have a financial interest in persuading the consumer that their devices work like hearing aids. But that simply isn’t true.
Let’s break it down. A hearing amplification device:
- Takes all sounds and makes them louder.
- Gives the user the ability to adjust the basic volume but that’s about it.
- Is typically cheaply made.
A hearing aid, however:
- Can pick out and boost specific sound types (such as the human voice).
- Has batteries that are long lasting.
- Is calibrated to amplify only the frequencies you have difficulty hearing.
- Has highly qualified specialists that program your hearing aids to your hearing loss symptoms.
- Can regulate background noise.
- Can achieve maximum comfort by being shaped to your ear.
- Will help safeguard your hearing health.
- Can be programmed with various settings for different locations.
Your ability to hear is too essential to go cheap
Everyone has a budget, and that budget is going to limit your hearing aid choices regardless of 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 management are well documented. This is why an affordable solution is where your attention should be. Just remember that your hearing deserves better than “cheap.”