What’s the Difference Between Affordable and Cheap Hearing Aids?

Display of over the counter hearing aids at a pharmacy.

Finding a bargain just feels good, right? Getting a good deal can be invigorating, and more rewarding the better the bargain. It’s a little too easy, then, to make the price your primary criteria, to always choose the least expensive option, to let your coupons make your consumer choices for you. When it comes to purchasing a pair of hearing aids, going after a bargain can be a huge oversight.

If you need hearing aids to manage hearing loss, going for the “cheapest” option can have health repercussions. Avoiding the development of health issues such as depression, dementia, and the danger of a fall is the entire point of using hearing aids in the first place. The key is to find the hearing aid that best fits your lifestyle, your hearing needs, and your budget.

Choosing affordable hearing aids – some tips

Affordable is not the same thing as cheap. Keep an eye on affordability as well as functionality. This will help you stay within your budget while allowing you to get the ideal hearing aids for your personal needs and budget. These are helpful tips.

Tip #1: Research before you buy: Affordable hearing aids are available

Hearing aid’s reputation for being extremely expensive is not always reflected in the reality of the situation. Most manufacturers produce hearing aids in a broad range of price points and work with financing companies to make their devices more affordable. If you’ve started searching the bargain bin for hearing aids because you’ve already resolved that really good effective models are too expensive, it could have significant health repercussions.

Tip #2: Find out what your insurance will cover

Some or even all of the expense of hearing aids might be covered by your insurance. Some states, in fact, have laws mandating insurance companies to cover hearing aids for kids or adults. Asking never hurts. There are government programs that often supply hearing aids for veterans.

Tip #3: Look for hearing aids that can be tuned to your hearing loss

Hearing aids are, in some ways, a lot like prescription glasses. Depending on your sense of fashion, the frame comes in a few options, but the exact prescription differs significantly from person to person. Hearing aids, too, have distinct settings, which we can calibrate for you, personalized to your precise needs.

Picking up a cheap hearing device from the clearance shelf is not going to give you the same benefits (or, in many instances, results that are even remotely useful). These are more like amplifiers that increase the sound of all frequencies, not only the ones you’re having difficulty hearing. What’s the importance of this? Hearing loss is often irregular, you can hear certain frequencies and sounds, but not others. If you raise all frequencies, the ones you have no problem hearing will be too loud. In other words, it doesn’t actually solve the problem and you’ll wind up not using the cheaper device.

Tip #4: Different hearing aids have different capabilities

There’s a temptation to look at all of the amazing technology in modern hearing aids and imagine that it’s all extra, simply bells and whistles. But you will need some of that technology to hear sounds properly. The specialized technology in hearing aids can be dialed in to the user’s level of hearing loss. Many modern designs have artificial intelligence that helps filter out background noise or communicate with each other to help you hear better. In addition, thinking about where (and why) you’ll be using your aids will help you decide on a model that fits your lifestyle.

That technology is essential to compensate for your hearing loss in a healthy way. Hearing aids are much more sophisticated than a simple, tiny speaker that boosts the volume of everything. And that brings up our last tip.

Tip #5: An amplification device isn’t the same thing as a hearing aid

Alright, say this with me: A hearing aid is not the same thing as a hearing amplification device. If you take nothing else away from this article, we hope it’s that. Because hearing amplification devices try really hard to make you believe they work the same way as a hearing aid for a fraction of the cost. But that just isn’t the case.

Let’s break it down. A hearing amplification device:

  • Is typically cheaply built.
  • Turns up the volume on all sounds.
  • Gives the user the ability to adjust the basic volume but that’s about all.

A hearing aid, however:

  • Will help safeguard your hearing health.
  • Can be programmed with various settings for different locations.
  • Is tuned to amplify only the frequencies you have trouble hearing.
  • Can be shaped specifically to your ears for optimal comfort.
  • Has long-lasting batteries.
  • Can be programed to recognize specific sound profiles, such as the human voice, and amplify them.
  • Can regulate background noise.
  • Is set up specifically to your hearing loss symptoms by a highly qualified hearing specialist.

Your ability to hear is too important to go cheap

Everyone has a budget, and that budget is going to limit your hearing aid choices no matter what price range you’re looking in.

This is why an affordable solution tends to be the emphasis. The long-term benefits of hearing aids and hearing loss treatment are well recognized. That’s why you need to concentrate on an affordable solution. Just remember that your hearing deserves better than “cheap.”

The site information is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. To receive personalized advice or treatment, schedule an appointment.

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