We all enjoy a good bargain. But when it involves your health, be careful what you buy and keep your eye on the little details.
We know, it’s confusing, the names are very similar, but hearing aids and hearing amplifiers are not equivalent. And your general hearing and health could suffer major consequences if you make the wrong choice about this.
Hearing amplifiers
A little device that goes inside of your ear, a hearing amplifier increases the volume of external sound. Technically categorized as personal sound amplification products by the government, these devices tend to be quite simple and one-dimensional. A hearing amplifier is like turning the volume up on the world.
Because of their one-size-fits-all strategy, hearing amplifiers are not appropriate for people who have moderate to extensive hearing loss.
Hearing amplifier are not hearing aids
It begins to become fairly 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. Obviously, hearing aids are appropriate for people with hearing loss.
Both kinds of devices are capable of raising the volume of outside sound. But one of these devices has a much higher level of amplification technology and sophistication.
- Hearing aids can be calibrated for your environment. There are a number of variables that will determine the specific acoustics of a space. These adjustments can even be made automatically with some modern hearing aids. Others can be adjusted using a smartphone or a dedicated device. By making small 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 places you want to avoid.
- With hearing aids, only specific wavelengths of sound are amplified. Because hearing loss usually advances wavelength by wavelength. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds commonly fade first. Rather than making everything louder, hearing aids work to plug holes in what you’re hearing. This selective approach is far more effective for individuals with hearing loss.
- Picking out and amplifying speech is one of the main functions of a hearing aid. In part, that’s due to the uneven way hearing loss progresses, but it’s also because communication is such a fundamental function of your hearing. So this function has been prioritized by hearing aid producers who have put considerable resources into improving it. There are sophisticated algorithms and processes working within hearing aids to make sure that, even in a crowded and noisy space, voices come through loud and clear.
Simply put, these features are vital components of correctly managing hearing loss. Usually, personal amplifiers don’t have these abilities.
Finding the best solution at an affordable price
Neglected hearing loss can bring about cognitive decline, along with increasingly diminished hearing abilities. Because amplifiers don’t differentiate between frequencies, if you raise the volume enough to hear what you’re missing, you’ll probably have it up too loud for other wavelengths….and do additional damage. And who wants to do that?
Unless your hearing loss is from earwax, hearing aids and certain surgeries are the only authorized treatment options for hearing loss right now. You won’t save any money in the long run by neglecting to get treatment for your hearing loss. Overall healthcare costs have been found to increase by more than 40% with untreated hearing loss. Fortunately, there are affordable solutions. We can help.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077