What’s the Best Hearing Aid?
A question often asked by people who are becoming hearing aid wearers for the first time is what’s the best hearing aid?
The answer should be that there isn’t one. The best hearing aid is the one that’s best for you.
There can’t be one best hearing aid simply because the type of hearing loss, and its severity, is different for everyone and must be addressed individually.
Today’s hearing aids are marvels of design and technology, over ninety percent of the hearing aids on the market are digital and allow for more flexibility in the adjustment process.
Hearing loss is hardly ever linear so the ability to raise the volume of some frequencies while lowering it for others is critical. Some hearing loss can cause a sensitivity to loud noises, with a digital hearing aid this problem can be addressed by a listening program set to block or at least reduce loud noise.
On the subject of listening programs modern hearing aids can come with three or four separate circuits that are tuned to specifically different listening environments and can be switched by the user.
Some top end aids will switch automatically. For those veteran hearing aid wearers who are experiencing difficulty adjusting their hearing aids, there is a technology available called data logging which allows for recording how the device is used and ones unique listening environment. Data logging allows the hearing professional to tweak the instrument to your specific needs.
All this technology comes with a price, the less technology required the less money required, but hearing aids can run from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, so joining with a hearing professional and going through the whole research process is an absolute must.
You can save significant amounts of money if you find, for instance, that you don’t need data logging, or if you only need one or two listening programs instead of three or four, your audiologist can make that determination.
The point is what’s the best hearing aid is determined by which device works best for you, new technology is being developed every day so as your hearing loss progresses (and it will) new hearing aids are being produced that will address your specific needs.
As miniaturization develops, more and more features will be packed into ever smaller and more comfortable devices and as your hearing needs change so will the industry.