It just feels good to find a bargain, right? It can be exhilarating when you’ve received a great deal on something, and the bigger discount, the more pleased you are. So letting your coupon make your shopping decisions for you, always chasing after the least expensive items, is all too easy. When it comes to purchasing a pair of hearing aids, chasing a bargain can be a huge mistake.
Health repercussions can result from choosing the cheapest option if you require hearing aids to manage hearing loss. After all, the entire point of using hearing aids is to be able to hear well and to prevent health issues associated with hearing loss including cognitive decline, depression, and an increased chance of falls. Finding the correct hearing aid to fit your hearing needs, lifestyle, and budget is the key.
Finding affordable hearing aids – some tips
Cheap and affordable aren’t always the same thing. Keep an eye on affordability as well as functionality. That will help you find the most ideal hearing aid possible for your individual budget. These tips will help.
Tip #1: Research before you buy: Affordable hearing aids are available
Hearing aids have a reputation for putting a dent in your pocketbook, a reputation, though, is not always represented by reality. Most hearing aid manufacturers will partner with financing companies to make the device more affordable and also have hearing aids in a wide range of prices. If you’ve already made the decision that the most effective hearing aids are out of reach, you’re probably more inclined to search the bargain bin than seek out affordable and effective options, and that can have a lasting, harmful affect on your hearing and overall health.
Tip #2: Find out what your insurance will cover
Some or even all of the cost of hearing aids could be covered by your insurance. As a matter of fact, some states require that insurance cover them for both kids and adults. Asking never hurts. If you’re a veteran, you might be eligible for hearing aids through government programs.
Tip #3: Your hearing loss is unique – find hearing aids that can calibrate to your hearing needs
In some ways, your hearing aids are a lot like prescription glasses. Depending on your sense of fashion, the frame comes in a few options, but the exact prescription differs considerably from person to person. Similarly, hearing aids might look the same cosmetically, but each hearing aid is tuned to the individual user’s hearing loss needs.
Purchasing a cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf is not going to give you the same benefits (or, in many cases, results that are even slightly useful). These amplification devices boost all frequencies rather than boosting only the frequencies you’re having a hard time hearing. What’s the significance of this? Typically, hearing loss will only impact some frequencies while you can hear others perfectly fine. If you boost all frequencies, the ones you have no problem hearing will be too loud. You will most likely end up not using this cheap amplification device because it doesn’t resolve your real problem.
Tip #4: Different hearing aids have different capabilities
There’s a temptation to look at all of the great technology in modern hearing aids and imagine that it’s all extra, just bells and whistles. The problem is that if you wish to hear sounds clearly (sounds like, you know, bells and whistles), you most likely need some of that technology. The sophisticated technology in hearing aids can be dialed in to the user’s level of hearing loss. Background sound can be blocked out with many of these modern models and some can communicate with each other. Additionally, thinking about where (and why) you’ll be using your aids will help you choose a model that fits your lifestyle.
It’s essential, in order to compensate for your hearing loss in an efficient way, that you have some of this technology. A tiny speaker that turns the volume up on everything is far from the sophistication of a modern hearing aid. And that brings up our last tip.
Tip #5: A hearing amplification device isn’t a hearing aid
Alright, repeat after 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 believe they work the same way as a hearing aid for a fraction of the cost. But that’s untruthful marketing.
Let’s break it down. A hearing amplification device:
- Turns the volume up on all sounds.
- Is usually built cheaply.
- Provides the user with little more than simple volume controls (if that).
Conversely, a hearing aid:
- Will help protect your hearing health.
- Can be programmed with various settings for different places.
- Can reduce background noise.
- Boosts the frequencies that you have a hard time hearing and leaves the frequencies you can hear alone.
- Can achieve maximum comfort by being molded to your ear.
- Has batteries that are long lasting.
- Is set up specifically to your hearing loss symptoms by a highly qualified hearing professional.
- Can identify and boost specific sound categories (like the human voice).
Your ability to hear is too crucial to go cheap
Regardless of what your budget is, that budget will restrict your options depending on your overall price range.
That’s why we often highlight the affordable part of this. When it comes to hearing loss, the long term advantages of hearing loss management and hearing aids is well documented. This is why an affordable solution is what your focus should be. Don’t forget, cheap is less than your hearing deserves.”
