Who doesn’t enjoy getting a good bargain? But you should be careful and watch out for little details when it comes to your health.
The names “hearing aid” and “hearing amplifier” may seem similar but they are actually entirely different devices. And your overall hearing and health could suffer severe consequences if you make the wrong choice about this.
What is a hearing amplifier?
A hearing amplifier is a little device that, when put in your ear, raises the volume of the sounds around you. These are usually really simple, one-dimensional devices which the government categorizes as personal sound amplification devices. A hearing amplifier is like cranking the volume up on the world.
These devices are usually not recommended for people with moderate to severe hearing loss because of their one-size-fits-all strategy.
Distinct difference between hearing aids and personal amplifiers
It begins to become pretty obvious that hearing aids aren’t the same as hearing amplification devices when you recognize that amplifiers are not recommended for people with even moderate hearing loss. Of course, hearing aids are appropriate for individuals who cope with hearing loss.
Both hearing aids and hearing amplifiers make things louder. The main difference between the two devices is how cutting edge that amplification is.
- Hearing aids can be calibrated for your environment. There are a number of variables that will influence 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. By making minute adjustments to the settings of your hearing aid, you’re able to hear better in a wider variety of settings, meaning there will be fewer places you wish to avoid.
- With hearing aids, only specific frequencies of sound are boosted. That’s because people often lose their hearing one frequency at a time. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds generally fade first. Hearing aids work to fill in the holes in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. For individuals who have hearing loss, this selective approach is more effective.
- Picking out and amplifying speech is one of the primary features of a hearing aid. Because communication is so central in our lives and also because of the uneven way hearing loss develops, this is an essential function. As a result, hearing aid makers have invested significant resources into enhancing the clarity of speech above everything else. In order to make certain voices can be heard clearly even in a crowded room, advanced technology and algorithms are bundled inside of modern hearing aids.
To put it bluntly, properly managing hearing loss depends on these capabilities. In most cases, 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 ability to hear. Because amplifiers don’t distinguish between frequencies, if you raise the volume enough to hear what you’re missing, you’ll probably have it up too loud for other frequencies….and damage your hearing further. And who wants to do that?
Currently, the only approved treatments for hearing loss, if it isn’t a result of earwax, are some surgeries and hearing aids. Ignoring hearing loss and bypassing treatment doesn’t save you money ultimately. General healthcare costs have been shown to increase by more than 40% with untreated hearing loss. Fortunately, there are affordable options. We can help.
References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077