If any of these factors apply to you, you may need to upgrade your hearing aids. At our practice, we want to help you stay involved, attentive, and active, so we’re pleased to talk about any life changes that might indicate a hearing aid upgrade is on the way. Call now to set up a consultation! If you’re on the fence about getting new hearing aids, consider the following points.
Are your hearing aids becoming obsolete?
Hearing aids do wear out over time, with a lifespan of five to seven years. Hearing aids are subjected to a variety of factors. There are wax and moisture issues in the ears and environmental issues, including water, dust, and debris. Some people go five years without having their hearing aids serviced, while others have them cleaned every couple of months.
You might also consider if your hearing aids are meeting your current needs:
- Can you chat on the phone without making an extra effort to grasp what the other person is saying?
- Do you get feedback regularly or in specific situations?
- Can they filter out background noise as you would expect?
- Are you adjusting them regularly?
- Are you replacing the batteries too often?
If you responded yes to several of these questions, an upgrade might be in order.
Think about your lifestyle needs
Changes in your lifestyle or social group could all be posing new obstacles for your hearing aids.
Lifestyle: Have you recently changed your hairstyle and are looking for something a little more in your ear or a new color? Perhaps you’ve made the decision to spend more time outside, or you’ve begun swimming or another water exercise. Maybe you and a group of friends have chosen to go to the movies or see a play regularly. That isn’t just for show; we want you to feel good about yourself at A Better Hearing Center, including your hearing aids. Do you use your car’s hands-free feature more often? Newer hearing aids are better at distinguishing between sounds you need to hear and focus on background noise.
Social group: What about meeting new people? Are you experiencing difficulty conversing with others because they speak more quietly, or have you moved into a group home with a lot of talk and social activities?
Has your job changed?
Is your new job requiring you to participate in more conference calls and meetings in different locations? Do you have meetings with clients in places where there is a lot of background noise? Changes like these could indicate that the requirements for receiving hearing aids have changed.
Think about taking advantage of new technology
Newer hearing aids can communicate with your smartphone, FM radio, laptop, tablet or smart TV in a seamless manner. You may stream music to your hearing aids from most media devices, and they will remember your settings, so you don’t have to adjust them every time. Newer models have a GPS capability that allows them to “remember” where you had to adjust and then adjust automatically when you return to that region.
You might wish to look for a model that can aid with tinnitus. Perhaps you’d like a model that relies on a charger rather than batteries. You simply charge the hearing aids, and when you remove them from the charger, they switch on automatically.
We’re Here to Help!
Don’t be alarmed if this new technology appears frightening. We are here to help you go through all of the new features and figure out which ones would benefit you the most. So, if it’s been a while since your last visit, give our experts a chance to assist you in determining if it’s time to upgrade. Contact us today to set up an appointment.