If you are walking around with an old-school ear trumpet at hand than plainly, it’s time for an upgrade. Coming to that realization when you have conventional hearing aids is more difficult, however, so how does one know? Your decade 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 them comes at a cost. In the last several years, hearing aids have dramatically advanced. Some of the functions of contemporary hearing aids hadn’t even been invented a decade ago. For starters, they’ve advanced from analog to digital. Why should you be thinking about an upgrade? Here are some good reasons.
Old Hearing Aids Are Not Very Reliable
Older or even low-quality hearing aids have real problems like that irritating buzz you hear every now and then. And it’s always a fun time when you get near a phone and your hearing aid starts to feedback. Sometimes that shrill feedback comes out of nowhere, too. What caused it this time?
You’ve Become Desensitized to its Poor Quality
You’re used to sitting in quiet self-reflection while everybody around you engages in conversation or questioning why the air conditioning unit is so noisy. Don’t forget the time your grandchild performed a beautiful song for you, but you could only hear every other word because your hearing aids kept cutting out. Of course, you still clapped.
All of these are failings linked to old hearing aids. Raising the volume was the main objective in hearing aids ten years ago. Nowadays, unwanted noise can be filtered out and modern hearing aids can do lots of other truly amazing things.
Old Hearing Aids Can be Expensive
Cost is always an issue in relation to an upgrade. You will have to make a preliminary purchase with new hearing aids but old ones will also be expensive over time. You will be continually replacing batteries when you have an analog hearing aid. You can imagine how costly it will be, replacing batteries at least once every day.
Old hearings aids can potentially spend more time at the shop, also. If you think of your hearing aid like you think of a 1992 car you would understand where we are coming from. It’s in the repair shop more than it is in your ear and repairs expensive.
Nowadays, we Have Smart Technology
Many contemporary hearing aids come with Bluetooth functionality. An analog hearing aid won’t have that feature. Having Bluetooth integrated into your digital hearing aid means it connects to your phone, your computer, maybe even your television (unless they’re a decade old, too.)
The Key to Everything is Communication
Studies show that hearing loss can lead to a lower paycheck. So it’s obvious that it would be a benefit to your career if you had better hearing aids. It will be easier to hear what your boss and customers are saying. You won’t need to be concerned about missing some crucial piece of information or if your hearing aid battery will die when you need it most.
Of course, better communication means an improved quality of life, as well. You don’t need to sit like a wallflower in the middle of discussions anymore. Feel free to get right in and engage with others.
You Only Want Your Hearing Aid to be Cooler
When you look in the mirror at your old hearing aid, what words come to mind? Clunky? Obvious? Does this make me look old? One of the most significant advantages that come with replacing old hearing aids is flexibility and style. You can purchase hearing aids in lots of colors, sizes, and shapes nowadays. You can wear a visible one in your favorite color or a discrete one hidden from sight inside your ear.
Indications That It’s Time
Now you understand all the reasons you should get a hearing aid upgrade, but not what to specifically look for that says your device may end up being called an antique. The time has come and here are the indications:
- Your hearing has changed. You don’t hear as well as you once did even with the hearing aid in place.
- Your life has changed, and your hearing aid has a hard time keeping up. Whenever you need to use the phone, you have to remove it and background noise has become a big challenge.
- Your hearing aid keeps quitting. It’s just not reliable anymore, and that’s an issue.
- You know for sure your hearing aid is analog. Ouch, go digital fast.
- Your ears feel heavy. Clunky, old technology weighs a lot.
- Your hearing aid sticks out like a sore thumb. Back when that old hearing aid was new, technology was much bigger.
- You need to replace the batteries constantly. Contemporary hearing aids are often rechargeable and are also more energy efficient.
It’s not rocket science. If you’ve had your hearing aids for more than seven years, it’s time to trade up and hear better.