Who doesn’t enjoy finding a good bargain? But you need to be careful and look out for small details in regards to your health.
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 consequences if you make the wrong choice about this.
Hearing amplifiers
A hearing amplifier is a little device that, when put in your ear, increases the volume of the sounds around you. These tend to be very simple, one-dimensional devices which the government classifies as personal sound amplification devices. A hearing amplifier is like cranking the volume of the world up.
Because of their one-size-fits-all approach, hearing amplifiers aren’t recommended for individuals who have moderate to extensive hearing loss.
Clear difference between hearing aids and personal amplifiers
It begins to become pretty apparent 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 people who suffer from hearing loss.
Both hearing aids and hearing amplifiers have the ability to increase volumes. The biggest difference between the two devices is how cutting edge that amplification is.
- Whatever environment you find yourself, your hearing aids can tune in to it. The acoustics of any given space will change depending on a list of factors. Some hearing aids can adjust to these changes automatically. A dedicated device or smartphone can calibrate hearing aids that don’t do it automatically. You will avoid fewer places because you will be able to hear better in a wider variety of places as your hearing aids make minute adjustments.
- Hearing aids are made to identify and boost certain wavelengths of sound. That’s because people tend to lose their hearing one frequency at a time. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds commonly fade first. Hearing aids work to fill in the holes in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. This selective strategy is far more beneficial for individuals with hearing loss.
- Hearing aids are specially designed to help you process speech. In part, that’s due to the irregular way hearing loss develops, but it’s also because communication is such an essential function of your hearing. So this function has been prioritized by hearing aid manufacturers who have put significant resources into improving it. There are sophisticated algorithms and processes working inside of hearing aids to ensure that, even in a crowded and noisy place, voices come through loud and clear.
Simply put, these capabilities are crucial elements of properly treating hearing loss. And these are attributes that are not present in most personal hearing amplifiers.
Finding the best option at an affordable price
Along with a diminished ability to hear, neglected hearing loss can also lead to cognitive decline. Because amplifiers don’t differentiate between frequencies, if you turn them up enough to hear what you’re missing, you’ll probably have it up too loud for other frequencies….and damage your hearing further. And who needs to do that?
Unless your hearing loss is being caused by earwax, hearing aids and some surgeries are the only authorized treatment options for hearing loss at this time. You won’t save any money long term by neglecting to get treatment for your hearing loss. Untreated hearing loss has been demonstrated to increase your overall healthcare costs over 40%. Luckily, there are affordable options. We can help.
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References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077