You know it’s time to replace your hearing aid if you’re walking around with one of those old-school ear trumpets. When you wear conventional hearing aids, making that call is more difficult. You purchased your hearing aids ten years ago, and they still get the job done, right?
While it might be true that older hearing aids are better than nothing, chances are what little advantage you get from using them comes at a price. In the last several years, hearing aids have dramatically advanced. It’s advanced from analog to digital, for starters, and there are features now that weren’t even invented a decade ago. Why should you be contemplating an upgrade? Here are some good reasons.
Old Hearing Aids Are Not Very Reliable
Lower quality or older hearing aids frequently have an irritating buzzing noise. How about that feedback every time you get near a phone, that’s a lot of fun. That deafening feedback sometimes happens for no noticeable reason. What caused it now?
You’ve Become Desensitized to its Low Quality
You’ve become accustomed to wondering why the sound of traffic is so noisy or to going off quietly while everyone else has interesting conversation. Remember when your hearing aid kept dropping out when you were trying to listen to your grandson sing a song and you only heard some of what they were singing. You still clapped, though.
Old hearing aids have all of these kinds of problems. Ten years ago the emphasis was on turning up the volume. Nowadays, hearing aids do magic tricks such as filtering out background noise, so no more noisy air conditioner.
The Old Ones Are Bleeding Money
Expenses are always a factor when considering an upgrade. Newer tech is not cheap, but neither is wearing an old, out-of-date hearing aid. You will be constantly replacing batteries with an analog hearing aid. You can imagine how costly it will be, replacing batteries at least once every day.
Out of date hearings aids can potentially spend more time at the shop, too. If you think of your hearing aid like you think of a 1992 car you would understand where we are coming from. Repairs are expensive and it’s constantly in the shop.
Today, we Have Smart Tech
Many contemporary hearing aids come with Bluetooth capabilities. You won’t get that in an analog device. Having Bluetooth integrated into your digital hearing aid means it’s compatible with your computer, your phone, maybe even your television (unless they’re a decade old, too.)
Communication is The Secret to Everything
It has been shown by research, that you will earn less money if you suffer from hearing loss. So it’s clear that it would be an asset to your career if you had better hearing aids. It will be easier to hear what customers and your boss are saying. You will follow directions without being concerned whether you got it right and have essential conversations without worrying about whether your hearing aids will cut out or not.
And clearly you will have a better quality of life if you have strong communication skills. You won’t have to go sit by yourself when people are talking. Jump right in and engage with the people around you.
You Really Want a More Stylish Looking Hearing Aid
When you look in the mirror at your old hearing aid, how do you feel? Clunky? Totally obvious? Oh my god? Flexibility and style are some of the more considerable reasons to replace your hearing aid. Contemporary hearing aids come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. You can wear a visible one in your favorite color or a discrete one tucked invisibly inside your ear.
Clues That It’s Time
Now you know all the reasons you should get a hearing aid upgrade, but not what you should specifically look for that says your device may end up being called an antique. Here are a few telltale signs that the time has come:
- Your hearing has changed. Even when you have your hearing aids in, it seems as if you don’t hear as well.
- Your old hearing aid just can’t keep up with your changing life. It’s a chore to take it out just to use the phone, or maybe you’ve changed jobs and now have to deal with more background noise.
- Your hearing aid intermittently cuts out. You really can’t count on it working when you most need it.
- It’s clear that you have an analog hearing aid. You need to go digital as soon as you can.
- Your hearing aid seems heavy. Awkward, old technology weighs a lot.
- Your hearing aid is the only thing you see when you look in a mirror. Back when that old hearing aid was new, technology was a lot larger.
- You constantly need to change the batteries. Modern hearing aids are more energy efficient, and some are rechargeable.
It isn’t rocket science. If you’ve had your hearing aids for seven years or more, it’s time to trade up and hear better.