Who doesn’t enjoy getting a good bargain? But you need to be careful and watch out for small details when it comes to your health.
We know, it can be confusing, the names are very similar, but hearing aids and hearing amplifiers are not the same. And making the wrong choice could have significant ramifications for your hearing and your overall health.
Hearing amplifiers
A little device that goes inside of your ear, a hearing amplifier raises the volume of outside sound. These are generally quite simple, one-dimensional devices which the government categorizes as personal sound amplification devices. The volume of the world is basically turned up.
Because of their one-size-fits-all strategy, hearing amplifiers aren’t appropriate for individuals who have moderate to extensive hearing loss.
Distinct difference between hearing aids and personal amplifiers
It begins to become pretty obvious that hearing aids are not the same as hearing amplification devices when you recognize that amplifiers are not recommended for people with even moderate hearing loss. Of course, hearing aids are recommended for individuals with hearing loss.
Both hearing aids and hearing amplifiers make things louder. But one of these devices has a much higher degree of amplification technology and sophistication.
- Hearing aids can be tuned to your environment. There are a number of factors that will influence the specific acoustics of a space. Some hearing aids can adjust to these changes automatically. Other models can be adjusted with a smartphone or a dedicated device. By making small adjustments to the settings of your hearing aid, you’re capable of hearing better in a wider variety of environments, meaning there will be fewer places you want to avoid.
- With hearing aids, only specific frequencies of sound are amplified. Because hearing loss frequently advances wavelength by wavelength. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds commonly fade first. Hearing aids work to fill in the gaps in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. For individuals who have hearing loss, this selective approach is more effective.
- Hearing aids are specifically designed to help you hear speech. Because communication is so central in our lives and also because of the irregular way hearing loss develops, this is an important function. Because of this, hearing aid makers have invested monumental resources into maximizing the clarity of speech above everything else. There are sophisticated algorithms and processes working within hearing aids to make sure that, even in a crowded and noisy space, voices come through clearly.
To put it bluntly, correctly treating hearing loss depends on these capabilities. And these are attributes that are not present in most personal hearing amplifiers.
The best deal for your ears
Untreated hearing loss can cause cognitive decline, along with increasingly diminished hearing abilities. With amplifiers, you’re very likely to do more harm to your hearing as the device doesn’t differentiate frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe levels. And who needs to do that?
Unless your hearing loss is from earwax, hearing aids and certain surgeries are the only authorized treatment options for hearing loss right now. You won’t save any money in the long run by neglecting to get treatment for your hearing loss. Overall healthcare costs have been found to increase by more than 40% with neglected hearing loss. The good news is, there are affordable solutions. We can help.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077
