Who doesn’t enjoy getting a good bargain? But you need to be careful and be aware of little details in regards to your health.
The names “hearing aid” and “hearing amplifier” might seem similar but they are actually very different devices. And making the wrong selection could have significant ramifications for your hearing and your overall health.
Hearing amplifiers
A small device that goes inside of your ear, a hearing amplifier increases the volume of external sound. Technically classified as personal sound amplification products by the government, these devices tend to be quite basic and one-dimensional. A hearing amplifier is like cranking the volume of the world up.
These devices are generally not recommended for people with moderate to significant hearing loss because of their one-size-fits-all strategy.
Hearing amplifier are not hearing aids
It starts to become fairly obvious that hearing aids aren’t the same as hearing amplification devices when you consider that amplifiers are not recommended for people with even moderate hearing loss. Hearing aids, obviously, are recommended for individuals who suffer from hearing loss.
Both kinds of devices are capable of raising the volume of outside sound. The biggest difference between the two devices is how sophisticated that amplification is.
- Whatever environment you find yourself, your hearing aids can tune in to it. There are numerous variables that will impact the specific acoustics of a space. Some hearing aids can fine tune to these changes automatically. Others can be calibrated with a smartphone or a dedicated device. You will avoid fewer places because you will be capable of hearing better in a wider variety of places as your hearing aids make minute adjustments.
- With hearing aids, only select wavelengths of sound are amplified. Because hearing loss normally progresses frequency by frequency. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds generally disappear first. Hearing aids work to fill in the holes in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. This selective strategy is a lot more beneficial for people who suffer from hearing loss.
- Selecting and amplifying speech is one of the main functions of a hearing aid. To some extent, that’s as a consequence of the irregular way hearing loss progresses, but it’s also because communication is such an essential function of your hearing. As a result, hearing aid manufacturers have invested significant resources into maximizing the clarity of speech above all else. There are sophisticated algorithms and processes working inside of hearing aids to ensure that, even in a crowded and noisy space, voices come through loud and clear.
Simply put, these features are vital elements of effectively treating hearing loss. And these are attributes that are not present in the majority of personal hearing amplifiers.
Finding the best solution at an affordable price
Along with a decreased ability to hear, untreated hearing loss can also result in cognitive decline. With amplifiers, you’re likely to do more harm to your hearing because the device doesn’t distinguish frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe volumes. And that’s not good for anyone.
Unless your hearing loss is from earwax, hearing aids and some surgeries are the only authorized treatments for hearing loss right now. You won’t save any money in the long run by neglecting to get treatment for your hearing loss. Neglected hearing loss has been demonstrated to increase your overall healthcare costs more than 40 percent. The good news is, there are affordable solutions. Just ask us.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077