How to Get The Most From Your Hearing Aids

A car isn’t really an impulse buy (unless you’re really rich). So a great deal of research is probably the first step you take. You check out reviews, you compare prices, and you evaluate gas mileage. (You’re on Google a lot.) This amount of research is logical! You’re about to spend tens of thousands of dollars on something and spend years paying for it (unless, again, you are very rich). So you want to make certain your investment is well spent.

You’ll be thinking about how your purchase best fits your lifestyle and also practical things like safety, gas mileage, etc. What type of vehicle do you enjoy? Do you require a lot of space to carry things around? How fast do you want your car to be?

Put another way, to get the most out of your new car, you need to evaluate your options and make some decisions. And that’s the same mindset you should take when selecting your hearing aids. They may not cost tens of thousands of dollars, but they’re still an investment. And getting the most out of your investment means figuring out which devices work best, in general, as well as what provides the most for your lifestyle.

The benefits of hearing aids

The example of the benefits of buying hearing aids can be broadly compared with the example of buying a car. Hearing aids are a wonderful investment!

The advantages of hearing aids, for most individuals, are more tangible than simply helping you hear. Staying involved with your friends and family will be a lot easier with a good set of hearing aids. You’ll be able to better follow conversations during dinner, listen to your grandchildren tell you about cool dinosaurs, and chit-chat with the checkout clerk at the grocery store.

With all these benefits, it seems sensible that you’d start to ask, “How can I make my hearing aids last longer?” You don’t want those benefits to stop.

Do more costly hearing aids work better?

There may be some people out there who would presume that the most effective way to make your hearing aid work better and last longer is to simply purchase the most high priced device they can.

And, to be sure, hearing aids can be an investment. Here are a couple of reasons why some hearing aids tend to be costly:

• The technology inside of a hearing aid is really small and very state-of-the-art. That means you’re paying for a very potent technological package.
• Hearing aids are also made to last for quite a while. If you take good care of them this is especially relevant.

But that doesn’t mean the most costly option will inevitably work best. How profound your hearing loss is and, obviously, what you can afford are a couple of the factors to think about. Some hearing aids will definitely last longer than others. But the cost of the device isn’t always the deciding variable.

As with any other purchase, hearing aids will require regular maintenance in order to keep working properly. What’s more, your hearing aids will have to be calibrated to your ears and calibrated for your specific level of hearing loss.

Get the correct hearing aids for your hearing loss

So, what are your choices? When it comes to hearing aids, you’ll have a number of different styles and kinds to choose from. You can work with us to determine which ones are ideal for you and your hearing needs. Here are the choices you will have to pick from:

• Completely-in-the-Canal Hearing Aids (CIC): These types of hearing aids can provide high-quality sound and are typically very discrete (great for individuals who want to hide their hearing aids). But with this type of hearing aid, battery life, and overall longevity is usually shorter. And some of the most sophisticated features tend to be missing because of their smaller size.
• In-the-Canal Hearing Aids (ITC): These hearing aids are specifically molded to fit your ear canal, which makes them mostly discrete. Because they’re a bit larger than CIC models, they might contain more high-tech features. These devices are still fairly small and some of the features can be a little difficult to manipulate by hand. Still, ITC models are ideal for people who require more features but still want to remain discreet.
• In-the-Ear Hearing Aids: These devices are also molded to your ears. No part of the device sits inside your ear canal, it all sits in your outer ear. A “half shell” version fits in your lower ear and a “full shell” version fits completely inside your ear. If you have complex hearing issues or need more powerful noise control, the more advanced technology and larger microphones will make these hearing aids the perfect option.
• Behind-the-Ear Hearing Aids (BTE): The speaker of this device fits in your ear and the more bulky electronic part goes behind your ear making them the best of both worlds in a way. The two parts are connected by a small tube, but for the most part, it’s pretty non-visible. These hearing aids offer many amplification choices making them quite popular. When you want the best of both visibility and power, these devices will be the perfect option.
• Receiving-in-the-Canal (or in the Ear) Hearing Aids (RIC or RITE): This is much like BTE hearing aids, except the speaker part fits in the ear canal. This makes them even less visible, with the added advantage of decreasing things like wind noise.
• Open-Fit Hearing Aids: Open-fit hearing aids tend to allow low-frequency sounds to enter the ear even while you’re hearing the device. This makes them a good fit for individuals who can hear those low-frequencies fairly well (but have trouble with high-frequency sounds). Though it works well for many individuals, it won’t be a good choice for everyone.

Pros and Cons of over-the-counter hearing aids

Over-the-counter hearing aids (or OTC hearing aids, to keep inundating you with acronyms) are yet another option to consider. The difficulty is that OTC hearing aids are sort of like OTC medications, they work okay in a basic sense. But if your hearing loss warrants a set of more powerful hearing aids or more specialized hearing aids, OTC devices may fall somewhat short. Prescription hearing aids can be calibrated to your specific hearing needs which is a feature generally not available with OTC hearing aids.

Regardless of what type of hearing aid you choose to buy, it’s always a good plan to consult us about what will work best for your specific needs.

Maintenance and repair

Obviously, once you’ve taken all of the steps to select your perfect hearing aid type, you should take care of it. This is, again, like a car which also needs maintenance.

So how frequently will your hearing aids need to be checked? You should have your hearing aid cleaned and maintained every six months to a year. This gives you a chance to make sure that everything is working properly and as it should!

It’s also a good idea to be fairly familiar with your device’s warranty. If and when you need repair, knowing what’s covered by that warranty and what isn’t can save you some cash! So now you’re wondering: how can I make my hearing aids last longer? The answer is sometimes simple: good upkeep and a great warranty.

Is there a hearing aid that’s the best?

There isn’t a single greatest all-time hearing aid. Every hearing specialist might have a different model that they think is the best.

The secret is to choose the best hearing aid for you and for your needs. Just like with a vehicle, for some an SUV will be best, and for others, a minivan will best fit their lifestyles. It all just depends, and the same goes for hearing aids.

But the more you understand beforehand and the better informed you are, the easier it will be to find the hearing aids that are perfect for you. Call us to schedule a consultation today!