Who doesn’t enjoy getting a good bargain? But when it involves your health, be careful what you purchase and pay attention to the small details.
The names “hearing aid” and “hearing amplifier” might seem similar but they are actually very different devices. And making the wrong selection could have important implications for your hearing and your overall health.
What is a hearing amplifier?
A little device that goes inside of your ear, a hearing amplifier raises the volume of outside sound. These tend to be really simple, one-dimensional devices which the government classifies as personal sound amplification devices. A hearing amplifier is like cranking the volume up on the world.
Because of their one-size-fits-all approach, hearing amplifiers are not recommended for individuals who have moderate to significant hearing loss.
Hearing amplifier aren’t hearing aids
Once people learn that hearing amplifiers are not suggested for individuals with even modest hearing loss, the differences between the two devices begin to become pretty stark. Hearing aids, obviously, are encouraged for people who suffer from hearing loss.
Both types of devices can raise the volume of outside sound. The biggest difference between the two devices is how cutting edge that amplification is.
- Hearing aids can be tuned to your environment. The acoustics of any given space will change depending on a long list of variables. These adjustments can even happen automatically with some modern hearing aids. Other models can be adjusted with a smartphone or a dedicated device. You will avoid fewer locations because you will be able to hear better in a wider variety of settings as your hearing aids make little adjustments.
- Hearing aids are specially manufactured to help you comprehend speech. Because communication is so essential in our lives and also because of the irregular way hearing loss progresses, this is an important function. As a result, hearing aid manufacturers have invested monumental resources into enhancing the clarity of speech above all else. There are state-of-the-art algorithms and processes working inside of hearing aids to make sure that, even in a crowded and noisy space, voices come through clearly.
- With hearing aids, only select wavelengths of sound are boosted. That’s because people normally lose their hearing one frequency at a time. Frequencies at the higher and lower end of the spectrum are commonly the first to go. 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.
To put it bluntly, correctly treating hearing loss depends on these features. In most cases, personal amplifiers don’t have these abilities.
Finding the best option at an affordable price
Neglected hearing loss can bring about cognitive decline, along with increasingly diminished hearing abilities. With amplifiers, you’re likely to do more harm to your hearing as the device doesn’t distinguish frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe levels. And that’s not good for anybody.
Unless your hearing loss is being caused by earwax, hearing aids and some surgeries are the only authorized treatments for hearing loss at this time. Neglecting hearing loss and bypassing treatment doesn’t save you money long term. Untreated hearing loss has been demonstrated to increase your general healthcare costs over 40%. The good news is, there are affordable options. We can help.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077