We all enjoy a good bargain. But when it involves your health, be careful what you purchase and pay attention to the small details.
We know, it’s confusing, the names are rather similar, but hearing aids and hearing amplifiers are not identical. And your overall hearing and health could suffer serious consequences if you make the wrong decision about this.
What is a hearing amplifier?
A little device that goes inside of your ear, a hearing amplifier raises the volume of external sound. Technically classified as personal sound amplification products by the government, these devices tend to be quite simple and one-dimensional. A hearing amplifier is like turning the volume of the world up.
Because of their one-size-fits-all approach, hearing amplifiers are not recommended for people who have moderate to significant hearing loss.
Distinct difference between hearing aids and personal amplifiers
It begins to become pretty apparent 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 encouraged for individuals with hearing loss.
Both hearing aids and hearing amplifiers have the ability to increase volumes. The main difference between the two devices is how cutting edge that amplification is.
- With hearing aids, only particular frequencies of sound are amplified. Because hearing loss normally progresses frequency by frequency. Frequencies at the higher and lower end of the spectrum are generally the first to go. Hearing aids work to fill in the gaps in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. This selective strategy is far more beneficial for individuals with hearing loss.
- Hearing aids can be tuned to your environment. There are a number of 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 settings as your hearing aids make little adjustments.
- Hearing aids are specifically manufactured to help you hear speech. To some extent, that’s the result of the irregular way hearing loss develops, but it’s also because communication is such an important function of your hearing. So this function has been prioritized by hearing aid makers who have put significant resources into improving it. There are sophisticated algorithms and processes working inside of hearing aids to make sure that, even in a crowded and noisy room, voices come through loud and clear.
Simply put, these features are crucial components of correctly managing hearing loss. And these are qualities that are not present in the majority of personal hearing amplifiers.
The best deal for your ears
Untreated hearing loss can bring about cognitive decline, not to mention increasingly diminished ability to hear. With amplifiers, you’re very likely to do more damage to your hearing because the device doesn’t differentiate frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe levels. And that isn’t good for anybody.
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. General healthcare costs have been found to increase by over 40% with neglected hearing loss. The good news is, there are affordable options. Just ask us.
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References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077