6 Step Guide To Buy A Perfect Pair Of Hearing Aids

Buying the right hearing aid might seem challenging. There are several options available in the market: different brands, different types, and varying prices of hearing aids.

The end objective is: Reclaim your hearing and find the most comfortable device with the features that you ACTUALLY need. Well, let me hand hold you through this overwhelming, yet rewarding journey

Understanding the Journey of Treating Hearing Loss.

• Hearing Loss is a health condition, so like any other medical condition, you should see a healthcare expert for your hearing issues. In this case, you should consult an Audiologist or an ENT Doctor.
• Audiologist will carry out your hearing evaluation, based on your health history and your ear examination. This hearing test is called Pure Tone Audiometry or PTA.
• PTA will help the audiologist understand the type and degree of your hearing loss and they can then suggest the best possible solutions.
• If your hearing loss is treatable only with hearing aids, they will understand your lifestyle and routine life. Based on that, they will be able to decide the hearing aid that will fit in seamlessly in your daily life.
• You will be given a trial with the actual hearing aid so that the audiologist can understand your responses to the modulated sounds. They will further fine-tune the device settings to make it as natural sounding as possible
• Some hearing aid clinics offer you a 2-day hearing device trial, so you can experience the difference hearing aid is giving
• Once you are satisfied with the trial, you should go ahead with the purchase. Be sure of the clinic’s after-care services. Some hearing aid dealer might be giving you a better discount, but I suggest you consider it as an investment –buy a hearing aid from an audiologist who will help you in future if you face any issue with your device. You wouldn’t want to buy the device and then not be able to use it right?

Moving ahead, we have created a 6 step guide for you to find the perfect hearing aid solution for yourself.

1. Get a Proper Hearing test done to gauge Hearing Levels

The Hearing Test will give a clear picture of how severe is your hearing loss and what is causing it. Sometimes people are struggling with hearing loss for years only to find out that it was earwax build up in their ears. The hearing test has to be done in a quiet environment, so hearing aid clinics have a sound-treated room for it. But latest technologies have also enabled convenient hearing tests at home.

2. Setting your expectations from hearing aids

Different Hearing loss levels can cause difficulty in a variety of situations, such as TV, mobile calls, group chats, one-on-one conversations, etc. Your audiologist needs to understand your challenges in these situations and decide on the features and the hearing aid type that will suit you the most.

This usually happens through a minimum of a half-hour discussion where the hearing care professional understands and makes a choice based on your age, listening requirements, hearing levels, professional requirements, cosmetic needs, and budget. Sometimes, you may want a CIC device for cosmetic reasons, but your hearing loss may not get fully compensated by a CIC hearing aid and you may need an RIC device. In these situations, one should always prefer going with the device that caters to your functional needs.

3. Form Factor & Features Fit

Hearing aids are available in a variety of form factors such as CIC (Completely-in-canal), ITC (In the Canal), IIC (Invisible in Canal), ITE (In The Ear), RIC (Receiver in Canal), BTE (Behind The Ear) and Earbuds.

Some of these hearing aids are customised to fit comfortably in your ears while some of them are now instant fit that can fit any ear canal. Each Hearing Aid type has its own benefits and limitations. General rule-of-thumb is to go for a device that caters to 20 dB more than your current hearing loss to ensure that the device will serve its purpose even if your hearing loss increases in the coming years.

An audiologist can guide you which device will fit better in your lifestyle. At HearClear, you can try these different devices and then select the one based on your experience.

4. Price

In the era of Amazon and Flipkart, searching for hearing aids online seems like an obvious way to buy hearing aids. The devices listed on these platforms have unbelievably low prices. However, these are not Hearing Aids but Amplifiers. If you wish to explore hearing aids online, you can log on to HearClear’s e-clinic and order hearing aids online. Our audiologist will then visit you and give you a trial so that you’re sure of the hearing aid before you start using it.

Most of the cheaper hearing aids available online are not digital hearing aids, and just amplify every sound in the environment. This means even the background noise of a blender or a fan will be amplified making it a miserable experience. In fact, using amplifiers further deteriorates your hearing. Some people then form an opinion that hearing aids are not comfortable. But that’s not true.

Digital Hearing Aids are programmed as per your hearing loss and help you hear sounds that you are missing otherwise. These devices house high-tech sensors and are designed to make this mechanized sound as natural as possible.

Digital hearing aids prices start from around 16 thousand and can go up to 3.5 Lacs for the most advanced digital hearing aid. The premium hearing aids will give a very natural and comfortable sound experience, will be rechargeable, and will even have Bluetooth to connect with your phone, TV.

Always remember, you are not only paying to get the device but also for audiologist’s seamless support. So always ask about after-care services of the clinic that you are buying hearing aids for. For example, Signia in India has reach in almost all cities of the country and hence the after-care support is easily accessible. Also, at HearClear, we offer remote reprogramming making it possible to help you even if you are thousands of kms away.

5. Warranty

Hearing Aids come with a 2-4 years of warranty. Although generally hearing aids last 5 years, depending on how the user handles it. Some people even use their hearing aids for 8-10 years.

6. After-sale care

Once you finalise the device and start using the hearing aid, it will take a few days for you to get accustomed to it. You have been missing several sounds and now you are able to hear those again, your brain will adjust to it slowly. Be sure that you continue to use your hearing aids. You may start with using them for 4-5 hours/day and slowly increase to 12-14 hours. During this phase it’s important that you see your audiologist and get fine-tunings done to get the perfect sound experience.

Hence, it’s important that you purchase your hearing aids from an audiologist that you trust and are satisfied with his/her capabilities.

We hope you now will be able to make an informed decision about your hearing aid purchase. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call us at 9654940400 or Book a Free Consultation of 45 minutes with our top audiologist.