Who doesn’t love finding a good bargain? But when it involves your health, be careful what you purchase and pay attention to the little details.
The terms “hearing aid” and “hearing amplifier” may seem similar but they are actually very different devices. And your general hearing and health could suffer serious consequences if you make the wrong decision about this.
Hearing amplifiers
A little device that goes in 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 cranked up.
Because of their one-size-fits-all approach, hearing amplifiers aren’t appropriate for individuals who have moderate to extensive hearing loss.
Distinct difference between hearing aids and personal amplifiers
Once people learn that hearing amplifiers aren’t suggested for individuals with even modest hearing loss, the differences between the two devices begin to become rather stark. Obviously, hearing aids are recommended for individuals with hearing loss.
Both kinds of devices can raise the volume of external sound. The biggest difference between the two devices is how cutting edge that amplification is.
- Hearing aids are designed to pick out and magnify specific wavelengths of sound. That’s because people tend to lose their hearing one frequency at a time. Wavelengths at the higher and lower end of the scale are usually the first to go. Rather than making everything louder, hearing aids work to plug holes in what you’re hearing. For individuals who have hearing loss, this selective approach is more effective.
- Whatever environment you find yourself, your hearing aids can calibrate to it. There are quite a few variables that will impact the specific acoustics of a space. Some hearing aids can fine tune to these changes automatically. A dedicated device or smartphone can calibrate hearing aids that don’t do it automatically. 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 wish to avoid.
- Hearing aids are specially manufactured to help you understand speech. Because communication is so essential in our lives and also because of the irregular way hearing loss progresses, this is an essential function. So this function has been prioritized by hearing aid makers who have put significant resources into improving it. There are sophisticated algorithms and processes working within hearing aids to ensure that, even in a crowded and noisy room, voices come through clearly.
To put it bluntly, properly managing hearing loss depends on these features. And these are qualities that are not present in the majority of personal hearing amplifiers.
Finding the best solution at an affordable price
Neglected hearing loss can cause cognitive decline, not to mention increasingly diminished ability to hear. With amplifiers, you’re very likely to do more harm to your hearing because the device doesn’t differentiate frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe volumes. And who wants to do that?
Unless your hearing loss is from earwax, hearing aids and certain surgeries are the only approved treatment options for hearing loss right now. You won’t save any money long term by neglecting to get treatment for your hearing loss. Neglected hearing loss has been demonstrated to increase your general healthcare costs more than 40 percent. The good news is, there are affordable solutions. We can help.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077