Are hearing aids actually worth the cost? The cost is often a concern for people who suffer from hearing loss. Still, when you invest in a house you never learn the price and say, “well, being homeless is less expensive”! The real value of hearing aids is about much more than the price.
You really should ask yourself what the consequences of not purchasing hearing aids will be and what the actual value of wearing hearing aids is.” The fact is, you pay a financial price for deciding not to invest in hearing aids. You should factor these costs into your choice as well. Understand why you will save money over time if you decide to get hearing aids.
You Will Find Yourself Spending More For Deciding on Cheaper Hearing Aids
You will likely find, while shopping for hearing aids, that you can find cheaper hearing aids that will appear to save you money. You could even purchase a hearing aid off of the internet costing less than a dinner.
You get what you pay for in quality when you buy over-the-counter hearing devices. When you buy these devices, you’re actually buying an amplification device similar to earbuds, not a real hearing aid. All of the sounds around, including noises you don’t want to hear, are cranked up.
Customized programming is the best feature of a high-quality hearing aid, that you don’t have if you purchase a cheap hearing device. If your hearing aids can be programmed to address your specific hearing needs, you will have a much higher quality experience.
The batteries in store bought hearing aids are also cheap. It gets very expensive when you have to keep swapping out dead batteries. You could end up changing out batteries a couple of times every day if you go with a cheap amplification device. The battery is very likely to die when you need it most, also, so prepare to carry lots of spares around with you everywhere you go. If you’re constantly replacing dead batteries, are you actually saving money over time?
Higher quality hearing aids last much longer because they are made with more efficient electronics. Many models don’t even need replacement batteries at all because they are rechargeable.
Problems With Your Career
You could end up earning less if you choose not to use hearing aids or to wear cheap ones. Research conducted in 2013 and published in The Hearing Journal states that less money is made by people with hearing loss – up to 25 percent less, and often have a hard time maintaining a job at all..
And why? Communication is essential in every job and with the many factors involved, that one is dominant. You have to be able to hear what your manager says so that you can give good results. You have to be capable of listening to clients so that you can assist them. You’ll most likely end up missing the whole content of the discussion if you are always struggling to hear what people are saying. Simply put, if you cannot take part in conversations, it’s really difficult to succeed at work.
You will also experience a physical toll from trying to here while at work. Even if you manage to get through a day with sub-par hearing, the stress that happens if you worry about whether you heard something correctly and the energy required to make out as much as you can, will make you fatigued and stressed out. Some affects of stress:
- The quality of your sleep
- Your relationships
- Your quality of life
- Immune health
As a result, your income will decline due to the impact on your work performance.
Having to go to the ER more often
There are safety issues which come with hearing loss. Without quality hearing aids, it will become hazardous for you to cross the street or drive a vehicle. How can you stay clear of something if you’re not able to hear it? What about public warning systems like a tornado alert or smoke alarm?
For a good number of jobs, hearing is a necessity for workplace safety like construction sites or production factories. That means that not wearing hearing aids is not simply a safety hazard but also something that can minimize your career options.
Financial security is also a factor here. Did you overpay the waitress for dinner because you couldn’t hear her? Do you really require all those new television features that you failed to hear the salesperson discussing with you? You may wind up spending more than you should for features you don’t really need.
Brain Health
One of the most significant problems that come with hearing loss is the greater risk of dementia. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that Alzheimer’s disease costs individuals more than 56,000 dollars a year. Dementia accounts for 11 billion dollars in Medicare costs annually.
The risk of getting dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is a risk factor linked to hearing loss. Someone who has neglected their hearing loss for a long time increases their risk of brain impairment by five fold. The chance of getting dementia increases by three times with modest hearing loss and doubles with even slight hearing loss. Hearing aids bring the danger back to normal.
There’s no doubt that a hearing aid will cost you a bit. If you look at the costs you will confront by choosing not to invest in hearing aids or getting cheaper ones, the decision is clear. Make an appointment with your hearing care professional right away.
