Technological advancements and changes in your expectations are two very good reasons to think about getting new hearing aids. You may have had changes in your hearing, it may have been five or more years since you got new hearing aids, there may be some nagging issues with the hearing aids you are wearing – those are also reasons to look at new hearing aids.
Give us a call at Comprehensive Ear & Hearing, and we can talk to you about what’s new and whether or not that might be better for you. Here’s some things to think about if you are considering new hearing aids.
How Are Your Hearing Aids Doing?
Hearing aids have a lifespan of about five years. Some last longer and some don’t last that long because do age and they have a lifespan of somewhere between three to seven years. Hearing aids don’t exist in a pristine environment. They are exposed to a lot of things. There are ear conditions like wax and moisture and then environmental conditions like water, dust and debris. Some people can go five years without getting their hearing aids serviced and some people are in and out of our office getting them cleaned and serviced quite frequently.
Are your hearing aids doing the job you want? Can you talk on the phone without extra effort trying to understand? Are you getting static or feedback sometimes or in certain situations? Are they filtering out background noise like you expect them to? Are you adjusting them frequently? What about the batteries – are you changing them frequently? If you answered ‘yes’ to several of these questions, it may be time to look at an upgrade.
Make a list of the five most important things you want to do while wearing your hearing aids – like, being able to hear your dining companions while out at a restaurant and being able to hear every one on when you are on the phone. If your hearing aids don’t hit the mark on these five items, it’s time to consider new hearing aids.
Have You Changed Things in Your Life?
Changes in in your job, your home life, your hobbies, or your circle of friends may mean new challenges for your hearing aids. Maybe your job has changed and you are attending more conferences or making sales calls in noisy environments. Some changes may mean the requirements for your hearing aids have changed.
What about new friends? Are you having trouble in conversational settings because they speak quieter or maybe you’ve moved into a group home setting with lots of conversation and social activities? If you picked your original hearing aids because you were looking at a very quiet lifestyle, you may need an upgrade.
Does your car have a hands-free phone option? Newer hearing devices are a lot better at separating out sounds you need to hear and filtering out background noise.
Maybe your new exercise regime includes walking outdoors or perhaps you’ve taken up swimming. Perhaps your circle of friends has decided a regular movie or theater night is a great idea. Have you changed your hairstyle and you want a model that’s a little more discreet?
New Technology Is Awesome
With newer model hearing aids you can stream from your smart phone, MP3 player, FM systems, your computer, you iPod, or iPad or your television. You can stream music from most media devices to your hearing aids and save the settings so you don’t need to readjust each time. Newer models have a GPS feature so they “remember” if you had to adjusted for a certain place and when you return to that place they will automatically adjust to the correct setting. You may want a model that has tinnitus therapy.
Maybe you want to switch to a model that uses a charger not batteries. You just set the hearing devices on the charger and they automatically turn on when you take them off the charger and put them in.
Comprehensive Ear and Hearing
If this new technology seems intimidating – don’t worry. At Comprehensive Ear & Hearing, we understand the challenges of hearing loss and we’re here for you. So, if you think it’s time for a change, give us a call today.