Who doesn’t love getting a good bargain? But you should be careful and watch out for small details when it comes to your health.
The names “hearing aid” and “hearing amplifier” may seem similar but they are actually very different devices. And your general 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, increases the volume of the sounds around you. These are usually really simple, one-dimensional devices which the government categorizes as personal sound amplification devices. The volume of the world is essentially cranked up.
These devices are usually not recommended for individuals with moderate to severe hearing loss because of their one-size-fits-all strategy.
Clear difference between hearing aids and personal amplifiers
Once people learn that hearing amplifiers are not recommended for people with even modest hearing loss, the differences between the two devices start to become rather stark. Of course, hearing aids are appropriate for individuals with hearing loss.
Both hearing aids and hearing amplifiers make things louder. But one of these devices has a much higher degree of amplification technology and sophistication.
- Hearing aids can be tuned to your environment. There are quite a few variables that will determine the exact acoustics of a space. These adjustments can even happen automatically with some modern hearing aids. A dedicated device or smartphone can calibrate hearing aids that don’t do it automatically. You will avoid fewer places because you will be able to hear better in a wider variety of settings as your hearing aids make minute adjustments.
- Hearing aids are made to select and magnify certain wavelengths of sound. That’s because people tend to lose their hearing one wavelength at a time. Either high-frequency sounds or low-frequency sounds commonly disappear first. Hearing aids work to fill in the holes in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. This selective strategy is far more effective for people with hearing loss.
- Hearing aids are specifically manufactured to help you hear speech. Because communication is so essential in our lives and also because of the irregular way hearing loss progresses, this is an essential function. As a result, hearing aid manufacturers have invested monumental resources into maximizing the clarity of speech above all else. In order to make certain voices come through clearly even in a noisy room, state-of-the-art technology and algorithms are bundled inside of modern hearing aids.
To put it bluntly, correctly treating hearing loss depends on these features. And these are features that are not present in the majority of personal hearing amplifiers.
Finding the best solution at an affordable price
Along with a decreased ability to hear, neglected hearing loss can also result in mental decline. With amplifiers, you’re likely to do more harm to your hearing as the device doesn’t differentiate frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe volumes. And who wants to do that?
Currently, the only recommended treatments for hearing loss, if it’s not a result of earwax, are some surgeries and hearing aids. Dismissing 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. The good news is, there are affordable solutions. Just ask us.
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References
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077