The numbers don’t lie: you might need hearing aids someday. A report from NIDCD states that approximately a quarter of all individuals between the ages of 60 and 75 have some kind of loss of hearing, and that number jumps up to 50% for people 75 and older. The best method to deal with age-related hearing loss is to wear a hearing aid, but how do you know which style is the right one for you? Advances in technology over the years have corrected some of the problems generally connected to 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 think about.
Look Closely at Directionality
One important feature you need to pay attention to in a hearing aid is directionality, which is the ability for your hearing aid to focus on the particular noise near you (such as a conversation) while reducing background noise to a minimum. One, or both, of two types of directionality systems are operating inside most hearing aids, they either focus on sound directly in front of you, or they focus on sound coming from different speakers and sometimes do both.
Can You Use it With Your Phone?
As a country, we’re addicted to our phones. You more than likely have some type of cell phone, either a smartphone or a flip phone. And on the off-chance that you don’t own any kind of cell phone, you most likely still have a land-line. So, when you’re trying out different hearing aids, you will want to see how they work with your phone. How does it sound? Do voices sound sharp? Is it Comfortable? Are there any Bluetooth connectivity options available? When looking at new hearing aids, you should take into account all of these.
What is The Probability You Would Actually Use it?
As noted above, hearing aid technology has advanced by leaps and bounds over the last few years. One of those advances has been the size and shape of hearing aids, which are a lot smaller today. But there are certainly pros and cons. It is dependant on what your particular needs are. A smaller hearing aid is not as obvious and might fit better but a larger one may 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 functions 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 obvious, but often have more directionality features and have more options for sound amplification.
Exposure to Particular Background Noises
One of the most significant issues since the advent of hearing aid technology has been wind noise and the chaos it wreaks on users. It would have driven anyone insane to go out on a breezy day and hear nothing except the wind. If you’re an outdoors person or you live in a windy place, you’ll need to find a hearing aid that suppresses wind noise so you can carry on conversations at a normal volume and avoid the headaches that are linked to hearing aid wind noises. Inform yourself about the many hearing aid choices available to you. Get in touch with us.