We all enjoy a good bargain. But when it has to do with your health, be careful what you buy and keep your eye on the small details.
We know, it can be confusing, the names are pretty similar, but hearing aids and hearing amplifiers are not equivalent. And your overall hearing and health could suffer severe repercussions if you make the wrong choice about this.
What is a hearing amplifier?
A hearing amplifier is a little device that, when placed in your ear, increases the volume of the sounds around you. These are usually very simple, one-dimensional devices which the government classifies as personal sound amplification devices. A hearing amplifier is like cranking the volume up on the world.
Because of their one-size-fits-all strategy, hearing amplifiers aren’t appropriate for individuals who have moderate to extensive hearing loss.
Hearing amplifier aren’t hearing aids
It begins to become pretty obvious that hearing aids are not the same as hearing amplification devices when you recognize that amplifiers are not recommended for people with even moderate hearing loss. Hearing aids, obviously, are recommended for individuals with hearing loss.
Both types of devices can raise the volume of outside sound. But one of these devices has a much higher level of amplification technology and sophistication.
- Picking out and amplifying speech is one of the primary features of a hearing aid. In part, that’s as a consequence of the uneven way hearing loss progresses, but it’s also because communication is such an essential function of your hearing. As a result, hearing aid manufacturers have invested enormous resources into enhancing the clarity of speech above all else. There are sophisticated algorithms and processes working within hearing aids to ensure that, even in a crowded and noisy space, voices come through loud and clear.
- Whatever environment you find yourself, your hearing aids can tune in to it. The acoustics of any given place will change depending on a lengthy list of factors. Some hearing aids can fine tune to these changes automatically. Others can be tuned with a smartphone or a dedicated device. By making minute adjustments to the settings of your hearing aid, you’re able to hear better in a wider variety of environments, meaning there will be fewer locations you wish to avoid.
- Hearing aids are made to identify and magnify certain frequencies of sound. That’s because people often lose their hearing one wavelength at a time. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds typically vanish first. Hearing aids work to fill in the holes in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. For individuals who have hearing loss, this selective approach is more effective.
To put it bluntly, properly managing hearing loss depends on these features. And these are features that are not present in most personal hearing amplifiers.
The best deal for your ears
Neglected hearing loss can bring about cognitive decline, along with increasingly diminished ability to hear. With amplifiers, you’re very likely to do more damage to your hearing because the device doesn’t distinguish frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe volumes. And who needs to do that?
Right now, the only approved treatments for hearing loss, if it’s not caused by earwax, are certain surgeries and hearing aids. Dismissing hearing loss and avoiding treatment doesn’t save you money long term. Untreated hearing loss has been shown to increase your overall healthcare costs more than 40 percent. Luckily, there are affordable options. We can help.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077