The numbers don’t lie: at some point in your life, you’re most likely going to require a hearing aid. A quarter of all people between 60 and 75, according to an NIDCD report, have hearing loss and for people over 75 this figure increases to 50%. The best way to combat age-related hearing loss is to use a hearing aid, but how can you be sure which style is the right one for you? Advancements in technology through the years have resolved some of the issues usually associated with hearing aids, such as too much background noise and susceptibility to water damage. But to make sure your choice of hearing aid is right for you, there are still things you need to consider.
Look Closely at Directionality
Directionality is one essential function you should look for, which has the capability of keeping background noise down while focusing in on sound you want to hear such as conversations. Most hearing aids have different directionality systems, which either focus on the sound right in front of you, the speech that’s coming from different speakers, or a combination of both.
Will Your Hearing Aid Connect With Your Phone?
It’s become very clear, we’re addicted to our cellphone as a nation. You probably have some kind of cell phone, either a smartphone or a flip phone. And on the unlikely event that you don’t own any type of cell phone, you probably still have a land-line. So, how well hearing aid works with your phone is an essential concern when you’re looking at hearing aids. How does it sound? Do voices sound sharp? Is it Comfortable? Is it Bluetooth Ready? These are all of the things you should take into account when looking at new hearing aids.
Are You Inclined to Wear it?
As mentioned above, hearing aid development has progressed by leaps and bounds over the past few years. One of those advances has been the size and shape of hearing aids, which are much smaller today. But there are definitely pros and cons. A more compact hearing aid might not be as powerful as a bigger one, so it mostly depends on your hearing professional’s suggestion and what you need to accomplish with your hearing aid. The little ones won’t have the features of the larger models and they could get clogged with earwax but they do fit inside your ears virtually invisibly. On the other side of it, a behind the ear hearing aid is bigger and might be more noticeable, but often have more directionality functions and provide more options for sound amplification.
Exposure to Particular Background Sounds
Wind interference has been an overwhelming difficulty for hearing aid users since they were invented. It would have driven anyone crazy to go outside on a breezy day and hear nothing but wind. you live in a windy area or if you’re an outdoor kind of person so you’ll want to control wind noises with your hearing aid decision so that conversations won’t have that frustrating wind howl. Inform yourself about the many different hearing aid choices available to you. Call us.