Perhaps you have noticed changes to your hearing and are simply doing preliminary research into your options for hearing aids. Maybe, you have taken the first and bravest step towards living a life with better hearing and scheduled your first hearing test. Perhaps still, you have met with your hearing health care professional at the Hearing Health Center of Houston and she has prescribed you hearing aids.
Wherever you are in your journey towards finding the perfect hearing aids, these simple tips can help guide you towards choosing the hearing devices that are the best fit for you. We’re all unique, in our individual lifestyles, preferences, personal styles, budgets and needs. It’s important to take all of this into consideration when choosing the right hearing aids.
- Feel good about your hearing health care provider. Most people choose their hearing aids as a team with their hearing provider. Hearing loss is an emotional journey, so it is important to find a hearing health care provider you trust and feel good about. Our providers at Hearing Health Center of Houston are all audiologists dedicated to making sure that our patients are comfortable and treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.
- Know your hearing profile. Not all hearing aids are suitable for all degrees of hearing loss. Before researching hearing aids, it is important to have a good understanding of your hearing profile first. Some hearing aids are best suited for those with severe hearing loss while others are best for those with mild to moderate hearing losses. You and your audiologist will discuss your full hearing profile after your initial hearing assessment.
- Understand which features you need, and which features you want. Today’s hearing aids are packed with almost every feature you could possibly imagine. Some use GPS mapping to automatically adjust your settings to your most frequented locations. Others are designed to pair particularly well with iPhones or other smart devices. Some hearing aids provide relief for tinnitus symptoms. It is important to know and understand which of these features are most important to you and your lifestyle. If you spend a lot of time on the phone, then perhaps hearing aids with Bluetooth capability may be really important to you. If you love to spend your weekends hiking and kayaking, then maybe hearing aid durability is one of the most important features for you. Once you know which features are of the utmost importance, then you can rate other features accordingly from the most to least important.
- Know your personal style. There are many different styles of hearing aids that range from flashy and fun to super discreet and near-invisible. It is important to take your personal style into consideration when choosing hearing aids. In saying this, it is also important to know which styles of hearing aids are suited to your degree of hearing loss.
- Understand your budget. At this time, many insurance companies still do not cover the cost of hearing aids. While there is legislation working towards changing this, as of the writing of this article, most people end up purchasing their hearing aids out-of-pocket. It is important to know what your budget is for hearing aids. Keep in mind that most people need two hearing aids to receive maximum benefit. Once you know your budget, we can stay within your price point. There are easy payment options available at the Hearing Health Center of Houston for monthly instalments with no interest to you for a 12 or 18 month period.
- Enlist the help of a friend. All of these factors can feel a little overwhelming if you are trying to balance them all on your own! That is why it is good practice to invite a friend or a family member along with you to your appointments and fittings. They can help you to better remember what was discussed in your appointment and can help you in making this important decision.
We understand that this is a lot to take in! If you choose to treat your hearing loss with our friendly team at the Hearing Health Center of Houston, we will walk with you every step of the way and support you on this journey to better hearing.