It may come as a shock to you, but with approximately 48 million afflicted people hearing loss, it is ranked third as the most common chronic condition among Americans. Surprisingly, because of costs, fear of having them, and/or lack of expert personnel in the field of hearing health, more than 85 percent of people whom could benefit from hearing aids do not get to use them.

Consequently, you are more prone to isolation, falling, social issues, and lack of better-paying jobs as hearing loss greatly influences the way you interact with the people and environments around you.

The importance of quality hearing aid devices is largely underrated, but nothing is more underrated than the proper acquisition and selection of hearing aids.

So if you’re planning on buying a pair for yourself or someone else, here are five things to consider when shopping for hearing aids:

1. Know what functions interest you

• Custom-programmable – Each patient has their own specific hearing test results. These results directly reflect how the sound cards in your hearing aids will adapt to your hearing disabilities.
• Automatic Gain Control – enables you to listen to quieter sounds as well as modulating louder sounds to a more audible level.
• Directional processing – focuses the input gain of the hearing aid to sounds in front of you more so than the sounds picked up beside and behind you.
• Feedback management – minimizes whistling with greater amplification.
• Noise reduction – reduces the distracting elements from environmental noise such as winds and mechanical engines.
• Telecoil – enables your hearing aid to connect to telecommunication lines and wireless systems.

2. Avoid heightened expectations

Don’t expect hearing aids to fix all of your hearing problems. It helps you listen closely to softer sounds and reduce loud noise in the background, but it will not restore your normal hearing patterns. It’ll take a couple of weeks for new users to get settled into using hearing aids comfortably. Always remember that it’s a process, take the time to adjust to sound you’ve only previously heard a long time ago.

3. Check your options

These days, hearing aids are sold in new ways to provide a cheaper retail price. People nowadays are able to purchase high-end, custom-programmable hearing aids for $1000 or less per device. saving consumers 60 percent or more on their expenses. The advancement of technology has also reduced the number of clinical visits needed due to a much more precise programming method.

4. Be open-minded, take a look at other hearing products

Neck loops, wireless systems (loops installed in a setting) helps transmit sound to your hearing aid and greatly improves the sound coming to your device. While hearing aids are often the best choice

5. Insurance is gold

There are some insurance plans out there that cover some, if not the majority, of the hearing aid expenses. This helps make everything more affordable and accessible to consumers everywhere.

Employer-sponsored and Medicare Advantage plans might just do the trick for you, so make sure you try to get yourself covered. Knowing your insurance situation and options going into the buying process helps alleviate some of the uncertainty.

Beltone DFW not only provides the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex with the latest in hearing technology, our staff can also help you through the process of finding the right devices for you. We provide comprehensive hearing tests and will assist you in testing the devices that fit your needs. Give us a call today at (888) 958-8432 or schedule an appointment online to begin exploring your options.