The numbers don’t lie: you may need hearing aids someday. A report from NIDCD estimates that approximately a quarter of all individuals between the ages of 60 and 75 have some form of hearing loss, and that number jumps up to 50% for those 75 and older. The best means to fight age-related hearing loss is to wear a hearing aid, but how can you be sure which type is the right one for you? Breakthroughs in technology through the years have fixed some of the problems usually linked to hearing aids, such as too much background noise and vulnerability to water damage. But to ensure your choice of hearing aid is right for you, there are still things you need to think about.
Directionality is a Crucial Feature
Directionality is one essential feature you should look for, which has the ability to keep background noise to a minimum while focusing on noise you want to hear such as conversations. Many hearing aids have different directionality systems, which either focus in on the sound directly in front of you, the sound that’s coming from different speakers, or a mix of those two.
Will Your Hearing Aid Interact With Your Phone?
As a country, we’re addicted to our cell phones. Even if you don’t have a smartphone, it’s likely you have an old-style cell phone. And on the unlikely event that you don’t own any kind of cell phone, you likely still have a land-line. So, when you’re testing different hearing aids, you should test how they connect to your phone. How does it sound? Are you able to discern voices plainly? Does it feel easy to wear? Are there any Bluetooth connection options available? These are all the things you should consider when looking at new hearing aids.
What is The Likelihood You Would Actually Wear it?
As mentioned above, hearing aid development has progressed tremendously over the past few years. One of those advances has been the size and shape of hearing aids, which are a great deal smaller today. But there are definitely pros and cons. It depends on what your specific needs are. A smaller hearing aid isn’t as obvious and might fit better but a larger one could be more powerful. You can get a hearing aid that fits directly into your ear canal and is basically invisible, but it won’t have many of the features available in larger hearing aids and can sometimes be prone to earwax clogs. On the other hand, better directionality functions and more advanced sound amplification choices are available with a behind the ear hearing aid even though it’s a little bit larger.
What Type of Background Sound Will You be Exposed to?
Wind interference has been an extreme problem for hearing aid users ever since they were invented. It would have driven anyone insane to go outside on a windy day and hear nothing but the wind. you live in a windy area or if you’re an outdoor person so you’ll want to get a hearing aid that suppresses wind noise so you can carry on conversations at an average volume and avoid the headaches that are related to hearing aid wind noises. Educate yourself about the many different hearing aid choices available to you. Give us a call.