Who doesn’t enjoy getting a good bargain? But you need to be careful and be aware of small details in regards to your health.
We know, it’s confusing, the names are pretty similar, but hearing aids and hearing amplifiers are not the same. And your general hearing and health could suffer serious repercussions if you make the wrong choice about this.
What is a hearing amplifier?
A hearing amplifier is a small device that, when put in your ear, raises the volume of the sounds around you. Technically classified as personal sound amplification products by the government, these gadgets tend to be very simple and one-dimensional. The volume of the world is basically turned up.
Because of their one-size-fits-all approach, hearing amplifiers are not recommended for individuals who have moderate to extensive hearing loss.
Clear 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. Of course, hearing aids are appropriate for people who cope with hearing loss.
Both kinds of devices can raise the volume of external sound. But one of these devices has a much higher degree of amplification technology and sophistication.
- Hearing aids can be calibrated for your environment. The acoustics of any given place will change depending on a list of factors. Some hearing aids can fine tune to these changes automatically. Others can be adjusted with a smartphone or a dedicated device. You will avoid fewer places because you will be able to hear better in a wider variety of settings as your hearing aids make minute adjustments.
- Hearing aids are specifically manufactured to help you hear speech. In part, that’s the result of the irregular way hearing loss progresses, but it’s also because communication is such an essential function of your hearing. Because of this, hearing aid manufacturers have invested enormous resources into improving the clarity of speech above all else. In order to make sure voices come through clearly even in a crowded room, sophisticated technology and algorithms are bundled inside of modern hearing aids.
- Hearing aids are designed to pick out and magnify certain wavelengths of sound. That’s because people normally lose their hearing one frequency at a time. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds typically vanish first. Rather than making everything louder, hearing aids work to plug holes in what you’re hearing. This selective strategy is far more beneficial for people with hearing loss.
To put it bluntly, correctly treating hearing loss depends on these features. Usually, personal amplifiers don’t have these features.
Finding the best option at an affordable price
Untreated hearing loss can contribute to cognitive decline, along with increasingly diminished hearing abilities. Because amplifiers don’t differentiate between frequencies, if you turn them up enough to hear what you’re missing, you’ll probably have it up too loud for other frequencies….and damage your hearing further. And that’s not good for anybody.
Currently, the only approved treatments for hearing loss, if it isn’t caused by earwax, are some surgeries and hearing aids. You won’t save any money in the long run by failing to get treatment for your hearing loss. Untreated hearing loss has been demonstrated to increase your overall healthcare costs more than 40 percent. Fortunately, there are affordable options. Just ask us.
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References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077