It just feels good to save money, right? It can be thrilling when you’ve received a good deal on something, and the bigger discount, the more pleased you are. So letting your coupon make your buying decisions for you, always going after the least expensive items, is all too easy. When it comes to investing in a pair of hearing aids, going after a bargain can be a huge mistake.
If you need hearing aids to treat hearing loss, going for the “cheapest” option can have health repercussions. After all, the entire point of using hearing aids is to be able to hear clearly and to prevent health problems related to hearing loss including mental decline, depression, and an increased chance of falls. Finding the right hearing aid to suit your hearing needs, lifestyle, and budget is the key.
Tips for finding affordable hearing aids
Affordable is not the same thing as cheap. Keep an eye on affordability and functionality. This will help you stay within your budget while enabling you to get the ideal hearing aids for your personal requirements and budget. These tips will help.
Tip #1: You can get affordable hearing aids.
Hearing aids have a reputation for taking a toll on your pocketbook, a reputation, however, is not always reflected by reality. Most hearing aid manufacturers will partner with financing companies to make the device more affordable and also have hearing aids in a variety of prices. If you’ve already decided that the most effective hearing aids are too expensive, you’re probably more inclined to search the bargain bin than look for affordable and effective options, and that can have a long-term, detrimental impact on your hearing and overall health.
Tip #2: Find out what your insurance will cover
Insurance may cover some or all of the costs associated with getting a hearing aid. In fact, some states require that insurance cover them for both children and adults. Asking never hurts. 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 rather universal (depending on your sense of fashion, of course), but the prescription is adjusted for your particular needs. Similarly, hearing aids might look alike cosmetically, but each hearing aid is tuned to the individual user’s hearing loss needs.
You won’t get the same benefits by grabbing some cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf (or, in many instances, results that are even slightly useful). These amplification devices increase all frequencies instead of boosting only the frequencies you’re having trouble with. What’s the importance of this? Hearing loss is often irregular, you can hear some frequencies and voices, but not others. If you make it loud enough to hear the frequencies that are too quiet, you’ll make it painful in the frequencies you can hear without amplification. In other words, it doesn’t actually solve the problem and you’ll end up not using the cheaper device.
Tip #4: Different hearing aids have different capabilities
It can be tempting to believe that all of the modern technology in a quality hearing aid is just “bells and whistles”. The problem with this idea is that if you wish to hear sounds properly (sounds like, you know, bells and whistles), you likely need some of that technology. Hearing aids have specialized technologies calibrated specifically for those who have hearing loss. Many modern models have artificial intelligence that helps filter out background noise or communicate with each other to help you hear better. In addition, taking into account where (and why) you’ll be using your aids will help you select a model that fits your lifestyle.
That technology is necessary to compensate for your hearing loss in a healthy way. Hearing aids are much more advanced than a simple, tiny speaker that amplifies everything. And that brings us to our last tip.
Tip #5: A hearing amplification device isn’t a hearing aid
Okay, say this with me: A hearing aid is not the same thing as a hearing amplification device. If you take nothing else away from this article, we hope it’s that. 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 price. But that just isn’t the case.
Let’s break it down. A hearing amplification device:
- Is usually built cheaply.
- Takes all sounds and makes them louder.
- Gives the user the ability to adjust the basic volume but that’s about all.
A hearing aid, however:
- Can limit background noise.
- Increases the frequencies that you have a hard time hearing and leaves the frequencies you can hear alone.
- Can be molded specifically to your ears for optimal comfort.
- Has batteries that are long lasting.
- Is set up specifically to your hearing loss symptoms by a highly skilled hearing professional.
- Will help you safeguard the health of your hearing.
- Can be programmed with different settings for different places.
- Can pick out and amplify specific sound categories (such as the human voice).
Your ability to hear is too important to go cheap
No matter what your budget is, that budget will determine your options depending on your overall price range.
This is why an affordable option tends to be the focus. The long-term advantages of hearing aids and hearing loss treatment are well recognized. That’s why you need to work on an affordable solution. Just remember that your hearing deserves better than “cheap.”