Finding a bargain just feels great, right? Getting a good deal can be thrilling, and more rewarding the bigger the deal. So letting your coupon make your buying decisions for you, always looking for the least expensive items, is all too easy. When it comes to buying a pair of hearing aids, going after a bargain can be a big oversight.
Health consequences can result from going for the cheapest option if you need hearing aids to manage hearing loss. Preventing the development of health problems like depression, dementia, and the risk of a fall is the whole point of using hearing aids in the first place. The trick is to find the hearing aid that best fits your lifestyle, your hearing requirements, and your budget.
Finding affordable hearing aids – some tips
Cheap and affordable aren’t necessarily the same thing. Affordability, as well as functionality, are what you should be looking for. This will help you keep within your budget while allowing you to find the correct hearing aids for your personal needs and budget. These are helpful tips.
You can obtain affordable hearing aids.
Hearing aid’s reputation for being incredibly expensive is not always reflected in the reality of the situation. Most hearing aid makers will partner with financing companies to make the device more affordable and also have hearing aids in a variety of prices. If you’ve already made the decision that the most effective hearing aids are too expensive, you’re probably more likely to search the bargain bin than look for affordable and effective options, and that can have a lasting, negative 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 might be covered by your insurance. 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 might be eligible for hearing aids through government programs.
Tip #3: Your hearing loss is unique – find hearing aids that can tune to your hearing needs
Hearing aids are, in some ways, similar to prescription glasses. Depending on your sense of fashion, the frame comes in a few choices, but the exact prescription differs significantly from person to person. Similarly, hearing aids may look alike cosmetically, but each hearing aid is tuned to the individual user’s hearing loss needs.
Buying a cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf won’t give you the same benefits (or, in many cases, results that are even remotely helpful). These amplification devices boost all frequencies rather than boosting only the frequencies you’re having trouble with. Why is this so important? Usually, 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. In other words, it doesn’t actually solve the problem and you’ll wind up not using the cheaper device.
Tip #4: Different hearing aids have different functions
It can be tempting to believe that all of the modern technology in a good hearing aid is simply “bells and whistles”. But you will need some of that technology to hear sounds properly. Hearing aids have specialized technologies calibrated specifically for those with hearing loss. Many modern models have artificial intelligence that helps filter out background noise or communicate with each other to help you hear better. Also, choosing a model that fits your lifestyle will be easier if you factor in where (and why) you’ll be using your hearing aids.
It’s essential, 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 basic, tiny speaker that amplifies everything. And that brings up our last tip.
Tip #5: A hearing amplification device isn’t a hearing aid
Alright, repeat after me: A hearing aid is not the same thing as an amplification device. This is the number one takeaway from this article. Because hearing amplification devices try very hard to make you think they work the same way as a hearing aid for a fraction of the cost. But that’s dishonest marketing.
Let’s break it down. A hearing amplification device:
- Turns the volume up on all sounds.
- Is often cheaply built.
- Supplies the user with little more than simple volume controls (if that).
A hearing aid, however:
- Has long-lasting batteries.
- Is tuned to amplify only the frequencies you have difficulty hearing.
- Is adjusted specifically to your hearing loss symptoms by a highly qualified hearing professional.
- Can be molded specifically to your ears for optimal comfort.
- Will help safeguard your hearing health.
- Can be programmed with various settings for different locations.
- Can regulate background noise.
- Can be programed to recognize specific sound profiles, such as the human voice, and amplify them.
Your ability to hear is too crucial to go cheap
Regardless of what your budget is, that budget will determine your options depending on your overall price range.
This is why an affordable solution tends to be the emphasis. 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 work on an affordable solution. Don’t forget, cheap is less than your hearing deserves.”