When should I upgrade my hearing aids?
This is a frequent question we hear from our clients, and the answer demands some thought. Although hearing aids ordinarily have a life-span of 3-7 years, there are a few situations in which you may want to upgrade sooner.
Here are 4 reasons you may want to consider an upgrade.
1. Your hearing aids are no longer performing well
If your hearing aids are not functioning as well as they used to, the first thing to look into is cleaning or repair.
Hearing aids are subjected to earwax, moisture, and other debris, so your hearing aids may simply need a cleaning. Other times, the electronics within the hearing aids require repair, but otherwise the hearing aids are still effective.
If your hearing aids are harmed beyond repair, on the other hand, or if they are past their regular life-span, you may want to upgrade to a new set.
2. Your hearing requirements are not being fulfilled
Let’s say you land a new job that will require a lot of talking on the phone, which has consistently been a problem for you with your existing hearing aids. You hear about a new model of hearing aid that can stream phone calls wirelessly from your iPhone directly to your hearing aids, giving you clear sound that you can freely modify. In this situation, you may want to upgrade your hearing aids to meet your new hearing requirements.
It’s a good idea to put together a list of all the circumstances in which your present hearing aids are not performing to your liking. Then, by speaking with a hearing instrument specialist, you can discover the hearing aids that can better fulfill your needs.
3. Your hearing has changed
Hearing can and does change through the years, and it’s a possibility that your present hearing aids, while sufficient at first, are now not capable of handling your hearing loss. If this is the case, you will require a new hearing test and a new pair of hearing aids programmed to correspond to your hearing loss.
4. You want to take advantage of the latest technology
Hearing aid technology is improving quickly; just ten years ago it would have sounded like science fiction to imagine that you could stream music wirelessly from your iPod to your hearing aids. Each year, remarkable new functionality is added to new hearing aid models, and you may find that you’d like to reap the benefits of the new technology.
As an example, perhaps you just bought a new Apple Watch and you learned that some of the new hearing aid types are compatible. If you wish to control your hearing aids with the watch, you would need to upgrade to a appropriate model.
The decision to upgrade your hearing aids essentially boils down to answering two questions:
- Are my current hearing aids meeting all of my listening needs?
- Is there new technology or functionality that I would like to benefit from?
Hearing aid technology is advancing quickly, and most of our clients are amazed to learn what the new hearing aid models are capable of. And the truth is, you can’t really answer the second question without knowing what’s available.
If you would like to learn about what some of your options are, give us a call today and we’ll explain to you all the available technology and how it could make your life better and easier. You may be surprised at what you discover.