You know it’s time to upgrade your hearing aid if you’re walking around with one of those old-school ear trumpets. When you use conventional hearing aids, making that call is more tricky. Your ten year old hearing aids still work, right?
While it may be true that older hearing aids are better than no hearing aids, it’s likely that what little advantage you get from using them comes at a cost. In the past few years, hearing aids have advanced dramatically. Some of the functions of modern hearing aids hadn’t even been invented a decade ago. For starters, they’ve advanced to digital from analog. Think about some reasons why you should be thinking about an upgrade.
Old Hearing Aids Are Not Very Reliable
Lower quality or older hearing aids frequently have an annoying buzzing sound. What about that feedback whenever you get near a phone, that’s a lot of fun. Occasionally that shrill feedback comes out of nowhere, too. What caused it now?
You’ve Become Desensitized to its Poor Quality
You are used to sitting in quiet self-reflection while everybody around you participates in conversation or questioning why the air conditioning unit is so loud. Remember the time your grandchild sang you a great song she learned at school, but you could only hear every other word because your hearing aids kept going out. You still clapped, though.
Outdated hearing aids have all of these kinds of problems. Ten years ago the emphasis was on raising the volume. Nowadays, unwanted noise can be filtered out and modern hearing aids can do many other truly amazing things.
The Old Ones Are Bleeding Money
When you’re thinking about upgrading your hearing aid, cost is a big factor. You will have to make an initial investment with new hearing aids but older ones will also be expensive with time. You will be constantly buying new batteries when you have an analog hearing aid. If you are purchasing new batteries on a daily basis, or even more often than that, the costs add up.
Repair costs can also escalate with older hearing aids. If you think of your hearing aid like you think of a 1992 car you would get the point. It’s in the shop more than it’s in your ear and repairs are not cheap.
Nowadays, we Have Smart Tech
Many contemporary hearing aids have Bluetooth functionality. You won’t get that in an analog device. Your phone, tablet, and even your computer can be connected, via Bluetooth, to your hearing digital aid.
The Secret to Everything is Communication
Studies reveal that hearing loss can mean a reduced paycheck. Doesn’t it make sense then that better hearing aids would be a career asset? You will be able to hear your boss and customers better. You will follow directions without being concerned whether you heard it right and have essential interactions without worrying about whether your hearing aids will hold up or not.
And obviously you will have an improved quality of life if you have good communication skills. You don’t need to sit like a wallflower during discussions anymore. Don’t hesitate to get right in and connect with others.
You Really Want a Sleeker Looking Hearing Aid
When you check out your old hearing aid in the mirror, how do you feel? Clunky? Obvious? Oh my god? One of the most substantial benefits that come with replacing old hearing aids is versatility and style. Today’s hearing aids come in a variety of colors, sizes, and shapes. You can have one tucked so tightly in your ear that nobody will ever see it, or you can make a fashion statement with a visible hearing aid in your favorite color.
Clues That It’s Time
Now you see why a hearing aid upgrade is important, so it’s time to determine what makes a hearing aid obsolete. Here are some telling signs that the time has come:
- There are changes in your hearing. Even when you have your hearing aids in your ears, it seems like you don’t hear as well.
- Your outdated hearing aid just can’t keep up with your changing life. It’s a chore to take it out just to talk on the phone, or maybe you got a new job and now have to cope with more background noise.
- Your hearing aid intermittently quits working. You just can’t count on it functioning when you need it most.
- You know for sure your hearing aid is analog. You should go digital as soon as you can.
- Your hearing aid seems heavy. Analog hearing aids weigh more.
- Your hearing aid is all you see when you look in a mirror. Back when that old hearing aid was new, technology was a lot larger.
- You constantly need to replace the batteries. Modern hearing aids are often rechargeable and are also more energy efficient.
It isn’t brain surgery. It’s time to replace your hearing aids if they’re more than 7 years old.