It just feels great to find a bargain, right? Getting a great deal can be exhilarating, and more rewarding the better the bargain. So letting your coupon make your buying choices for you, always looking for the least expensive items, is all too easy. But chasing a bargain when it comes to buying hearing aids can be a big mistake.
If you require hearing aids to manage hearing loss, choosing the “cheapest” option can have health consequences. After all, the entire point of using hearing aids is to be able to hear clearly and to prevent health issues associated with hearing loss including cognitive decline, depression, and an increased chance of falls. Choosing the correct hearing aid to fit your hearing needs, lifestyle, and budget is the trick.
Tips for finding affordable hearing aids
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 stay within your budget while allowing you to find the correct hearing aids for your personal needs and budget. These are helpful tips.
Tip #1: Do your homework: Affordable hearing aids exist
Hearing aids have a reputation for putting a dent in your wallet, a reputation, however, is not always represented by reality. Most hearing aid makers will partner up with financing companies to make the device more budget friendly and also have hearing aids in a wide range of prices. If you’ve already decided that the most reliable hearing aids are too expensive, you’re probably more inclined to search the bargain bin than seek out affordable and reliable options, and that can have a lasting, harmful affect on your hearing and overall health.
Tip #2: Find out what your insurance will cover
Some or even all of the expense of hearing aids may be covered by your insurance. In fact, some states mandate that insurance cover them for both children and adults. It never hurts to ask. There are government programs that often provide hearing aids for veterans.
Tip #3: Look for hearing aids that can be calibrated to your hearing loss
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 distinct needs. Similarly, hearing aids might look the same cosmetically, but each hearing aid is tuned to the individual user’s hearing loss needs.
Buying a cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf is not going to give you the same results (or any helpful results at all in many instances). These are more like amplifiers that raise the sound of all frequencies, not only the ones you’re having problems hearing. Why is this so significant? Normally, hearing loss will only affect some frequencies while you can hear others perfectly fine. If you make it loud enough to hear the frequencies that are too quiet, you’ll make it uncomfortable in the frequencies you can hear without a device. You will probably end up not using this cheap amplification device because it doesn’t resolve your real issue.
Tip #4: Different hearing aids have different capabilities
It can be tempting to think that all of the modern technology in a good hearing aid is just “bells and whistles”. But you will need some of that technology to hear sounds clearly. Hearing aids have innovative technologies calibrated specifically for people with hearing loss. Background sound can be blocked out with many of these modern designs and some can connect with each other. Also, selecting a model that fits your lifestyle will be easier if you take into account 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. A tiny speaker that cranks the volume up on everything is far from the sophistication of a modern hearing aid. Which brings up our last tip.
Tip #5: An amplification device is not the same thing as 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 just isn’t true.
Let’s have a closer look. An amplifier:
- Turns up the volume on all sounds.
- Is typically built cheaply.
- Gives the user the ability to adjust the basic volume but that’s about it.
On the other hand, a hearing aid:
- Increases the frequencies that you have a difficult time hearing and leaves the frequencies you can hear alone.
- Can be programed to identify distinct sound profiles, like the human voice, and amplify them.
- Can limit background noise.
- Can be programmed with different settings for different locations.
- Has batteries that are long lasting.
- Is set up specifically to your hearing loss symptoms by a highly qualified hearing specialist.
- Can achieve maximum comfort by being shaped to your ear.
- Will help protect your hearing health.
Your ability to hear is too crucial to go cheap
No matter what your budget is, that budget will determine your options depending on your general price range.
This is why an affordable option tends to be the emphasis. When it comes to hearing loss, the long term benefits of hearing loss treatment and hearing aids is well documented. This is why an affordable solution is where your attention should be. Just remember that your hearing deserves better than “cheap.”