How to Rate Hearing Aids
- 1). Start by rating hearing aids according to technological advancement. More advanced hearing aid technology will provide you with better sound quality, comfort and ease of hearing. The biggest complaint among hearing aid users is hearing speech over background noises. The advancements made in hearing aid technology have focused greatly on providing users with better speech understanding in background noise.
Rating hearing aid technology comes down to how technical the hearing aid is, how many features the hearing aid has, and how much control the hearing aid offers for varied listening situations. Most hearing aid manufacturers make comparable high-tech hearing aids. Highly advanced hearing aids offer features like artificial intelligence, Bluetooth compatibility, wireless capabilities, data logging, sound wave analyzers and sound recognition. Top-of-the-line hearing aids come with a $7,000 to $10,000 price tag per pair; and are worth it if you'll use all of the features. - 2). Rate your lifestyle to determine how advanced and feature-filled your hearing aids need to be. If your life is pretty quiet with minimal social events and more time spent at home, you'll likely never use all of the features highly advanced hearing aids offer. Before choosing hearing aids, decide if your current lifestyle is extremely active, active, moderately active or seldom active. Hearing aids need to be replaced every five to seven years, so also consider how active you'll be for the next five to seven years.
Hearing aid technology is marketed, presented and sold in tiers or levels: low, middle and high end. The features or lack of features in each determine how well you hear in varied listening situations. Low-level technology works well if you spend a majority of your time in quiet areas. Middle-level technology works well if you spend time in quite or moderately noisy environments, and have no desire to hear well in busy, noisy social settings. High-level technology works well in all situations, especially busy, noisy, social and active listening environments. - 3). Visit local hearing clinics to rate hearing health care providers. Most insurance plans, including Medicare, do not cover hearing aids. You will be choosing your own hearing health care provider. Choosing a clinic and specialist with experience, patience, knowledge and empathy is important. According to Mead C. Killion, Ph.D., patients who choose the best technology need to work with a hearing specialist who truly understands the technology.
Most hearing aid clinics offer appointments for free hearing tests and free consultation when you're shopping for new hearing aids. Getting several opinions will allow you to confirm the technology level you're considering, decide on a brand and find a specialist you feel confident and comfortable with.
When rating different clinics and hearing aid brands, take note of manufacturer warranty periods, trial periods, price, costs associated with future service and adjustment appointments at each clinic, and other clinic locations if you travel. - 4). Don't rate hearing aids by size or style; it's what's inside of a hearing aid that counts. You can get any technology level in any size or style of hearing aid. Make sure to tell each specialist what you prefer, for example: "I don't want something behind my ear," or, "I prefer something behind my ear." The specialist will determine whether the size and style you prefer fits your anatomy and hearing loss.
