It just feels good to find a bargain, right? Getting a great deal can be thrilling, and more gratifying the better the bargain. It’s a little too easy, then, to make the cost your primary consideration, to always choose the least expensive option, to let your coupons make your buying decisions for you. But chasing a bargain when it comes to buying hearing aids can be a big oversight.
Health consequences can result from choosing the cheapest option if you require hearing aids to treat hearing loss. Preventing the development of health problems such as depression, dementia, and the risk of a fall is the entire point of using hearing aids after all. Choosing the right hearing aid to fit your hearing needs, lifestyle, and budget is the trick.
Finding affordable hearing aids – some tips
Cheap and affordable aren’t always the same thing. Keep an eye on affordability and functionality. That will help you get the best hearing aid possible for your individual budget. These tips will help.
Tip #1: Research before you buy: Affordable hearing aids exist
Hearing aid’s reputation for being very expensive is not necessarily reflected in the reality of the situation. Most hearing aid manufacturers will partner with financing companies to make the device more affordable 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 resolved that really good effective models are too expensive, it could have serious health consequences.
Tip #2: Find out what your insurance will cover
Insurance might 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 may be eligible for hearing aids through government programs.
Tip #3: Your hearing loss is unique – find hearing aids that can tune to your hearing situation
In some ways, your hearing aids are a lot like prescription glasses. The frame is fairly universal (depending on your sense of fashion, of course), but the prescription is adjusted for your particular needs. Hearing aids, too, have distinct settings, which we can calibrate for you, tailored to your exact needs.
Buying a cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf is not going to give you the same results (or, in many cases, results that are even remotely helpful). These are more like amplification devices that raise the sound of all frequencies, not only the ones you’re having difficulty hearing. What’s the importance of this? Hearing loss is usually irregular, you can hear some frequencies and sounds, but not others. If you raise the volume enough to hear the frequencies that are too quiet, you’ll make it uncomfortable in the frequencies you can hear without amplification. Simply put, it doesn’t actually solve the problem and you’ll end up not using the cheaper device.
Tip #4: Different hearing aids have different capabilities
It can be tempting to think that all of the modern technology in a quality hearing aid is 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 likely need some of that technology. Hearing aids have specialized technologies tuned specifically for people with hearing loss. Many modern designs have artificial intelligence that helps block out background noise or connect with each other to help you hear better. Also, selecting a model that fits your lifestyle will be simpler if you consider 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 boosts the volume of everything. Which brings us to our last tip.
Tip #5: A hearing amplification device isn’t 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 makers of amplification devices have a financial interest in persuading the consumer that their devices do what hearing aids do. But that’s untruthful marketing.
Let’s have a closer look. A hearing amplification device:
- Supplies the user with little more than basic volume controls (if that).
- Is usually made cheaply.
- Turns up the volume on all sounds.
Conversely, a hearing aid:
- Can be programmed with various settings for different locations.
- Has highly qualified specialists that adjust your hearing aids to your hearing loss symptoms.
- Can be molded specifically to your ears for maximum comfort.
- Is calibrated to amplify only the frequencies you have trouble hearing.
- Will help protect your hearing health.
- Can be programed to recognize distinct sound profiles, like the human voice, and amplify them.
- Can regulate background noise.
- Has batteries that are long lasting.
Your ability to hear is too essential 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.
That’s why we tend to highlight the affordable part of this. When it comes to hearing loss, the long term benefits of hearing loss management and hearing aids is well recognized. That’s why you should concentrate on an affordable solution. Don’t forget, cheap is less than your hearing deserves.”