What You Should Really Know About Purchasing Your Hearing Aids
Today I want to discuss something that I’ve noticed happening more recently.
People are spending a lot of time and effort researching hearing aids online.
Some of these people know what they are looking for and are simply looking for the best price for a specific configuration. Now if you know exactly what you were looking for and your only concern is the price, you might be able to find a great deal, but there is no guarantee that you will be happy with your purchase. This is often the case when people purchase their hearing aids from an online source. We have seen several clients who have purchased various hearing devices from online sources that were of little to no benefit to them and they had no recourse to reclaim their hard-earned money.
Others are trying to find the best product on the market and are getting lost in manufacturers’ promotional materials and various forums – reading other people’s experiences – and ultimately getting analysis-paralysis where they have consumed so much information that they don’t know which is best anymore because they all sound wonderful. The fundamental issue here is that your experience will not usually be similar to anyone else’s because your ears are unlike anyone else.
Most people don’t realize that hearing aids cannot be purchased the way you purchase from a retail electronics store. Hearing aids are not consumer electronic devices like TV’s or headphones. True hearing aids are medical devices that need to be selected and properly fit by a hearing care professional based on the assessment of the individuals hearing loss and specific needs.
The other thing that people may not know is that each hearing aid from the various manufacturers come with certain audiological features that may sound similar to another manufacturer’s product, but they may or may not be specifically beneficial to the user.
Our job is to help make things as easy as possible. Our process is to get to know your hearing needs, your lifestyle and overall social activity level, your comfort with technology, your ability to handle and maintain small electronics and find any other unique-to-you attributes. We help people navigate through all of this information to make sure that we present at least two or three suitable hearing aid options that will fit their hearing loss, their needs, and also their budget. We also make sure that you are confident using your new hearing aids to get the value out of them. One more of our most valuable services is that we make sure that you return to our offices for regular service and adjustments to make sure that your hearing aids are always in great shape and are tuned up so that you always hear your best.