The numbers don’t lie: at some point in your life, you’re most likely going to need a hearing aid. A quarter of all people between 60 and 75, according to an NIDCD report, have loss of hearing and for people over 75 this figure increases to 50%. The best method to deal with age-related hearing loss is to use a hearing aid, but how do you know which model is the right one for you? Developments in technology in recent times have corrected some of the issues usually connected to hearing aids, including too much background noise and susceptibility to water damage. But to ensure that your choice of hearing aid is correct for you, there are still things you need to think about.
Directionality is a Crucial Feature
Directionality is one important feature you should look for, which has the ability to keep background noise down while focusing on noise you want to hear like conversations. One, if not both, of two types of directionality systems are working inside most hearing aids, they either focus on sound directly in front of you, or they focus on sound coming from different speakers and sometimes do both.
Can You Use it With Your Phone?
It’s become obvious, we’re addicted to our phone as a country. You most likely have some type of cell phone, either a smartphone or a flip phone. And for those few who don’t actually have a cell phone, you most likely still have a land-line. So, the way your hearing aid works with your phone is an essential consideration when you’re looking at hearing aids. How does it sound? Do voices sound clear? Is it Comfortable? Are there any Bluetooth connectivity features available? These are all the things you should take into account when looking at new hearing aids.
Are You Inclined to Use it?
As noted above, hearing aid technology has advanced tremendously over the last few years. One of those advances has been the size and shape of hearing aids, which have moved towards the smaller and more comfortable direction. However, there will always be some trade-offs. A more compact hearing aid might not be as powerful as a bigger one, so it mostly depends on your hearing professional’s suggestion and what you want to accomplish with your hearing aid. The little ones won’t have the features of the larger models and they might get clogged with earwax but they do fit inside your ears almost imperceptibility. On the other side of it, a behind the ear hearing aid is larger and might be more obvious, but often have more directionality features and have more choices for sound amplification.
Exposure to Specific Background Noises
Wind interference has been an extreme difficulty for hearing aid users ever since they were developed. Being outside during a windy day with a traditional hearing aid used to mean that you couldn’t pick up anything but the wind, which is enough to drive anyone nuts. If you’re an outdoors kind of person or you live in a windy area, you’ll want to find a hearing aid that suppresses wind noise so you can carry on conversations at a normal volume and steer clear of the headaches that are associated with hearing aid wind noises. Looking for more information about how to pick the correct hearing aid? Call us.
