What Type of Hearing Aid is Right For You? 

So you’ve finally gone to the hearing doctor and gotten a diagnosis about your hearing loss. That’s great. The more proactive we are about our needs, the better aids and devices we can get to help combat the issue going forward. And with technology constantly improving, there are tons of choices on the market for different types of hearing aids. 

How do you go about choosing? Well, there’s a number of factors to consider, and you should of course discuss these with your audiologist in detail, to help determine which one is right for you. 

First, you’ll need to go to the audiologist and have a consultation about your hearing loss, whether or not you have pain, and any other issues caused, such as balance or sleep problems. You’ll then undergo a series of easy and painless tests to diagnose which type of hearing loss you have, and what the underlying causes are. You’ll then discuss your specific needs with your doctor, working together to choose the best course of action. 

If you’re a regular cell phone user or need certain devices for business (or other health issues) one of the first things you’ll want to do is choose from compatible hearing aids that won’t interfere with these other devices. Several hearing aids on the market are cell phone compatible and they are all reasonably affordable. 

Beyond that, there are many types of hearing aids on the market to choose from, including types that are invisible, worn deep inside the ear, ones that fit just inside the ear, outside-the-ear, receiver-in-canal, and more. All of these types work differently, depending on your specific needs, and offer different types of assistance, so you’ll want to take the time to test them all out and discuss with your doctor. 

Several of these types are actually molded and fitted to your specific ear canal. Others are one-size-fits all. Some are connected via electrical wire that hooks up to a device while others are wireless. You won’t have any trouble finding the perfect aid for you, when there are so many great choices out there. 

As with anything, you may find that a hearing aid isn’t the right choice for you. There are other routes to go in this case. Other devices such as a hearing amplifier, which comes in a wide variety of styles including FM/AM transmitters, phone and TV amplifiers, and “pocket amplifiers” that you can carry along with you; tools and resources for your devices such as subtitles, closed captioning, sign language and more, for those who don’t wish to use a hearing aid. There are several more options as well that you can discuss with your doctor. 

No matter your specific choice, being proactive about your hearing and working with your doctor to give yourself some kind of aid is always a good idea. There’s simply no reason to suffer with hearing loss when you can get your senses back and enjoy life comfortably with an aid or device.

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.