We all love a good bargain. But when it comes to your health, be careful what you buy and pay attention to the little details.
We know, it’s confusing, the names are very similar, but hearing aids and hearing amplifiers are not the same. And making the wrong selection could have important ramifications for your hearing and your overall health.
Hearing amplifiers
A hearing amplifier is a little device that, when put in your ear, raises the volume of the sounds around you. These tend to be quite simple, one-dimensional devices which the government categorizes as personal sound amplification devices. The volume of the world is basically cranked up.
These devices are usually not suggested for people with moderate to significant hearing loss because of their one-size-fits-all approach.
Clear difference between hearing aids and personal amplifiers
It begins to become pretty apparent 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. Hearing aids, obviously, 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 are specifically manufactured to help you understand speech. In part, that’s due to the irregular way hearing loss develops, but it’s also because communication is such an essential function of your hearing. So this function has been prioritized by hearing aid producers who have put considerable resources into enhancing it. There are state-of-the-art algorithms and processes working within hearing aids to make sure that, even in a crowded and noisy place, voices come through clearly.
- With hearing aids, only specific wavelengths of sound are boosted. Because hearing loss frequently progresses frequency by frequency. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds typically vanish first. Hearing aids work to fill in the holes in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. This selective approach is much more beneficial for people who suffer from hearing loss.
- Hearing aids can be tuned to your environment. There are numerous variables that will determine the exact acoustics of a space. These adjustments can even happen automatically with some modern hearing aids. A dedicated device or smartphone can tune hearing aids that don’t do it automatically. You will avoid fewer places because you will be able to hear better in a wider variety of places as your hearing aids make little adjustments.
To put it bluntly, correctly managing hearing loss depends on these features. And these are features that are not present in most personal hearing amplifiers.
The best deal for your ears
Neglected hearing loss can cause cognitive decline, along with increasingly diminished ability to hear. Because amplifiers don’t distinguish between frequencies, if you raise the volume enough to hear what you’re missing, you’ll probably have it up too loud for other wavelengths….and do additional damage. And that’s not good for anybody.
Currently, the only approved treatments for hearing loss, if it’s not a result of earwax, are some surgeries and hearing aids. You won’t save any money long term by neglecting to get treatment for your hearing loss. Overall healthcare costs have been shown to increase by over 40% with untreated hearing loss. The good news is, there are affordable solutions. Just ask us.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077