Do you know why we recommend you to Stop Buying Hearing Aids Online? You must know… It is first and foremost not currently legal to be selling hearing aids online. These are typically being run without manufacturer knowledge and are hit with a cease and desist order fairly quickly. At that point any warranty outside of a manufacturer warranty tends to be voided. Now that aside, programming hearing aids is actually quite involved.
What your brain does with the signal, and even the individual algorithm of that specific manufacturer is something else.
Please know that the style and power of the hearing aid that you should be wearing is based on the severity of your hearing loss.
Different manufacturers are doing things like hearing speech in noise better than others and believe it or not, what sounds good to your friend xxx, may not sound good to you for many reasons. These include 1) her hearing is probably different than yours and 2) different cells have died between the two of you and therefore the signal getting to your brain will be different.
Regular follow-up is vital for the first 6 weeks to ensure that they are tuned for the above-mentioned factors as well as to train your brain to hear. This is not like wearing or buying a cute pair of shoes or a watch. This is a therapy tool, please remember that.
All in all, I would be wary and caution against buying any medical therapy tool that involves the retraining of your brain online without professional advice.
The Internet offers many advantages for consumers looking for information and products. Online purchasing is convenient and private, and in some cases may offer cost savings for individuals.
- A hearing aid is a complex medical device, not as simple as it looks.
- Hearing aids have the digital technology that can be set by an audiologist to meet your personal hearing needs.
- Hearing aids bought online without a complete hearing test and other necessary hearing aid services may not meet your needs.
- Setting hearing aids for your needs requires specific computer software that audiologists may not have access to if the devices were bought online. For some online businesses, getting the hearing aid settings changed may only be possible by shipping the hearing aid back to the manufacturer, which means you will have to go without your hearing aid for a while.
- To help with your adjustment to hearing aids, audiologists generally provide office visits, reprogramming, counselling, and support when you buy a hearing aid from them. Hearing aids purchased online will generally not include these services.
If you suspect that you have a hearing loss, see your doctor. The medical exam will determine if your hearing loss is medically treatable. If it is not, you will be referred to a licensed audiologist to see if you are a candidate for hearing aids. With a medical referral, Medicare beneficiaries can get a complete hearing test at no cost.
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly recommends that you see a doctor rule out medical causes of hearing loss before buying hearing aids. For children 18 years old or younger, a medical evaluation is required.
- Online hearing screens cannot tell you the cause of hearing loss—the cause may be something as minor as too much earwax or as serious as a brain tumour. Currently, online hearing screens can only alert you that your hearing is not normal and that you need further testing.
Success with hearing aids begins with a complete hearing test by an audiologist.
The hearing test begins with a thorough discussion about your :
lifestyle,
listening needs,
medical history, and
any other concerns you may have.
This will help with the selection of the special features you might need in your hearing aids.
Your audiologist will perform several different tests to determine what benefits you can expect from hearing aids:
- The audiogram is a record of the type and degree of your hearing loss and how well you can hear soft tones at different pitches. It is more than a hearing screening.
- Speech testing is a measure of how well you can hear and understand speech in quiet and background noise.
- Loudness discomfort testing will measure your ability to tolerate loud sounds and will help the audiologist set the hearing aids so that loud sounds are not uncomfortable.
Following the testing, the audiologist will explain the results and work with you to develop a plan to improve your hearing and communication. This discussion is important for understanding your hearing loss and what you can expect from hearing aids if they are recommended for you.
With a better understanding of you and your hearing loss, your audiologist may recommend hearing assistive technology (e.g., telephone amplifiers, TV devices, FM systems, audio-loops) to help you hear better in situations where hearing aids may be of less help (e.g., in a car, when the TV is on, or in groups of people talking). Hearing assistive technology can be used alone or with hearing aids.
- Once hearing aids are recommended, you will continue to follow up with your audiologist to ensure that the hearing aid is meeting your needs and that you are happy with the sound quality and improvements in communication.
- Meeting and consulting an Audiologist/ ENT is the key to improving your hearing and communication with your new hearing aids.
- Buying cheap online is also not a good thought to get rid of your hearing loss in any way.
