Getting The Most Out of Your Hearing Aids

If you aren’t really rich, a car isn’t really an impulse buy. So a lot of research is probably the first thing you do. You look at reviews, you assess prices, and you consider gas mileage. (You’re on Google a lot.) This amount of research is logical! You’re about to spend tens of thousands of dollars on something and spend years paying for it (unless, again, you are very rich). So you want to make certain your investment is well spent.

Not only do you look at the concrete factors (gas mileage, safety, etc), but you’ll also think about best fits for your lifestyle. Is there a specific style of vehicle you really enjoy? How much room do you require for weekly groceries? How fast do you want your car to be?

Put another way, to get the most out of your new car, you have to evaluate your options and make some choices. And when you’re selecting new hearing aids, it’s important to have this same mindset. They may not cost tens of thousands of dollars, but they are an investment. Figuring out which device will best fit your lifestyle and which device works best in general, is the best way to get the most out of your investment.

Hearing aid benefits

In exactly the same way that you can talk about the benefits of a car in very general terms, you can also talk about the benefits of hearing aids in a similarly general way. Hearing aids are a wonderful investment!

Yes, they help you hear, but for most individuals, the benefits are more tangible than that. Staying connected with your friends and family will be much easier with a good pair of hearing aids. You’ll be able to more easily follow conversations during dinner, listen to your grandkids tell you about cool dinosaurs, and converse with the cashier at the supermarket.

It’s only logical that you would want to make your hearing aids last as long as possible given all of the benefits. You want to keep those benefits going!

Do more expensive hearing aids work better?

There might be some individuals out there who would assume that the most effective way to make your hearing aid work better and last longer is to just buy the most high priced device possible.

Hearing aids are certainly an investment. There’s a reason why some devices are expensive in the first place:

• The technology inside of a hearing aid is really small and very state-of-the-art. That means you’re paying for an extremely potent technological package.
• Hearing aids are also designed to last for quite a while. Particularly if you take care of them.

But that doesn’t mean the most expensive option will automatically work best. How profound your hearing loss is and, of course, what you can afford are a couple of the variables to think about. Some hearing aids will certainly last longer than others. But that isn’t always determined by how costly the device was in the first place.

In order to keep your hearing aids in tip-top working order, as with any other purchase, they will call for routine care and maintenance. Also, your hearing loss is distinct to you and your hearing aids will need to be programmed to your specific needs.

Make sure you get the correct hearing aids for you

What options do you have? When it comes to hearing aids, you’ll have a number of different styles and kinds to select from. You can work with us to figure out which ones are the right choice for you and your hearing goals. But in general, here’s what you’ll have to select from:

• Completely-in-the-Canal Hearing Aids (CIC): For people who want their hearing aids to be discrete and also deliver high-quality sound, these hearing aids will be the best choice. But with this kind of hearing aid, battery life, and overall lifespan tends to be shorter. And some of the most modern features are typically missing due to their smaller size.
• In-the-Canal Hearing Aids (ITC): These hearing aids are custom molded to fit your ear canal, which makes them mostly discrete. They will often include more high-tech functions being a little larger than CIC models. Some of these features can be somewhat tricky to adjust by hand (because the devices are still fairly small). If you want your hearing aid to be discrete but also have some advanced features, this type will be ideal.
• In-the-Ear Hearing Aids: This style of hearing aid is molded to fit entirely inside your outer ear. A “half shell” version fits in your lower ear and a “full shell” version fits entirely inside your ear. These devices are more visible but can include sophisticated and powerful microphones, making them an excellent option for noise control or complex hearing problems.
• Behind-the-Ear Hearing Aids (BTE): In a way, BTE hearing aids are the best of both worlds. This style of device has one bit that sits in your ear (that’s the speaker) but transfers all of the bulky electronics to a housing that goes behind your ear. The pieces are connected by a little tube, but for the most part, it’s fairly non-visible. These hearing aids offer many amplification options making them quite popular. These types are a good compromise between visibility and power.
• Receiving-in-the-Canal (or in the Ear) Hearing Aids (RIC or RITE): This is much like BTE hearing aids, except the speaker bit fits in the ear canal. They have the advantage of decreasing wind noise and are usually less visible.
• Open-Fit Hearing Aids: Open-fit hearing aids tend to let low-frequency sounds enter the ear even while you’re using the device. This makes them suitable for individuals who can hear those low-frequencies fairly well (but have problems with high-frequency sounds). Though it works well for many people, it won’t be a good option for everyone.

How about over-the-counter hearing aids?

Over-the-counter hearing aids (or OTC hearing aids, to keep flooding you with acronyms) are yet another alternative to think about. The difficulty is that OTC hearing aids are sort of like OTC medications, they work fine in a general sense. But if your hearing loss warrants a set of more powerful hearing aids or more specialized hearing aids, OTC devices could fall somewhat short. Prescription hearing aids can be fine-tuned to your particular hearing needs which is an option generally not available with OTC hearing aids.

The best way to find out what kind of hearing aid will be best for you, you should talk with us.

Maintenance and repair

Obviously, once you’ve taken all of the steps to pick out your perfect hearing aid type, you should take care of it. Just like your car requires oil changes once in a while.

So how frequently will your hearing aids need to be assessed? Generally, you should schedule a routine maintenance and cleaning appointment for your hearing aids every six-to-twelve months. By doing this you can be certain everything is in good working condition.

You should also get familiar with your warranty. If and when you need repair, knowing what’s covered by that warranty and what’s not can save you some cash! So now you’re wondering: how can I make my hearing aids last longer? The answer is usually simple: good upkeep and a strong warranty.

So… what’s the best hearing aid?

There’s no single best hearing aid. If you go to see twelve different hearing specialists and request the “best” hearing aid, they might provide you with a dozen different models.

The key is to find the best hearing aid for you and for your personal requirements. Some people will opt for a minivan, others for an SUV. It all just depends, and the same is true for hearing aids.

But the more you know beforehand and the better informed you are, the easier it will be to get the hearing aids that are ideal for you. Schedule a hearing exam with us today!