Choosing The Right Hearing Aid

Based on our clinical experience, we have listed some key questions and considerations to help you choose which hearing aid will be most suited to your needs.

Please read further if you are:

• Often asking people to repeat what they have said.
• Turning the TV volume up to hear, and others find it too loud.
• Struggling to hear when there is background noise.
• Finding that people sound like they are mumbling
• Having trouble hearing over the telephone.
• Finding it difficult to follow a conversation in a group, when two or more people are talking.
• Not hearing women and children easily.

How motivated are you to wear hearing aids? Adjusting to the sounds you have not heard for a long time takes persistence, patience and commitment.

Do you live an active lifestyle and want to hear better in challenging environments such as; restaurants, parties, meetings, large groups and the outdoors?

Do you live a quiet lifestyle and want to improve your hearing around the home, one on one conversations in quiet and when watching TV?

Or are you somewhere in between?

How often are you in challenging listening environments such as; restaurants or coffee shops, family gatherings, conversation in large groups, parties, social events and concerts, work meetings, or outdoors. Are you rarely or occasionally in these situations?

Which type of hearing aid is best for you? Are you more concerned about the form (appearance) or the function (performance)?

The most popular style of hearing aid is the Receiver in the canal (RIC) as this has the best function. This style includes all the latest technology (direct streaming), allows for the most natural sound – especially with your own voice – performs better in background noise (directional microphones) and still looks very discrete. It has the perfect balance of form vs function and this is why most people are fitted with this style.

Do you want to hear phone calls, music and TV direct to your hearing aids? Do you have an Android or iPhone? Some hearing aids have direct streaming with iPhones only and others can be paired directly with any smartphone.

Do you want your devices to work automatically so you don’t need to push any buttons?

Do you want to be able to easily control your devices using an App on your smartphone?

The most common complaint about hearing aids is their performance in background noise. In general, the majority of people with a hearing loss will have difficulty hearing people speaking when there is noise around. However, even the most expensive hearing aids can’t replicate ‘normal’ hearing. To oversimplify what you are paying for – ‘the higher the cost, the better the hearing aid can cope in difficult listening situations’. There are several other factors to take into account and this will be discussed in your consultation with our audiologists.

Certain features will become more sophisticated and make the hearing aids more expensive such as;

• Automatic programs
• Directional microphones
• Noise reduction
• Digital Signal Processing
• Rechargeable batteries
• Direct streaming from smartphones

If you don’t feel your hearing needs require these features, then you can opt for a lower technology level (and price point).