You know it’s time to upgrade your hearing aid if you’re still using one of those old-fashioned ear trumpets. When you wear conventional hearing aids, making that call is more difficult. Your ten year old hearing aids still work, right?
Maybe you are better off using obsolete hearing aids than having none, what’s the real cost? Hearing aid tech has advanced in the past several years. Some of the functions of modern-day hearing aids hadn’t even been designed a decade ago. For starters, they’ve advanced to digital from analog. Think about some reasons why it’s time for you to be considering an upgrade.
Your Old One is Not That Dependable
Cheaper or older hearing aids frequently have an irritating buzzing noise. And it’s always a great time when you get near a phone and your hearing aid begins to feedback. Occasionally that shrill feedback comes from nowhere, too. Now why is this happening?
You’ve Become Desensitized to its Low Quality
You’re used to going to a quiet place while everyone around you participates in conversation or questioning why the air conditioner is so noisy. Remember that time when your hearing aid wouldn’t stop dropping out while you were attempting to listen to your grandchild perform a song and you could only hear some of what they were singing. You still clapped, though.
Old hearing aids have all of these types of problems. A decade ago the focus was on raising the volume. Today, hearing aids do magic tricks like filtering out background noise, so say goodbye to the air conditioner.
Outdated Hearing Aids Will Cost You More Money
When you’re thinking about a hearing aid upgrade, cost is a big factor. You will need to make an initial investment with new hearing aids but older ones will also be costly with time. You will be continually buying new batteries when you have an analog hearing aid. You can imagine how costly it will be, buying new batteries at least once a day.
Repair costs can also be very high with out dated hearing aids. If you think of your hearing aid like you think of a 1992 car you would understand where we are coming from. Repairs are expensive and it’s always in the shop.
Nowadays, we Have Smart Technology
Most modern hearing aids have Bluetooth functionality. You won’t get that in an analog unit. Your phone, tablet, and even your computer can be connected, via Bluetooth, to your hearing digital aid.
The Secret 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 customers and your boss are saying. You will be capable of following directions without wondering if you heard it right and have critical interactions without worrying about whether your hearing aids will hold up or not.
Of course, better communication means an improved quality of life, too. You don’t have to sit like a wallflower during conversations anymore. Jump in and engage with the people around you.
You Just Want Your Hearing Aid to be Cooler
When you look in the mirror at your old hearing aid, how do you feel? Clunky? Obvious? Oh my god? One of the most significant advantages that come with replacing old hearing aids is versatility and design. You can get hearing aids in lots of colors, sizes, and shapes now. You can have one hidden so tightly in your ear that nobody will ever notice it, or you can make a fashion statement with a visible hearing aid in your favorite color.
How to Recognize When it’s Time to Upgrade
Now you recognize why a hearing aid upgrade is necessary, now it’s time to learn what makes a hearing aid outdated. The time has come and here are the signs:
- There are changes in your hearing. You don’t hear as well as you used to even with the hearing aid in.
- Your outdated hearing aid just can’t keep up with your changing life. It’s a pain to take it out just to talk on the phone, or perhaps you got a new job and now have to deal with more background noise.
- Your hearing aid randomly quits working. It’s just not reliable anymore, and that’s a problem.
- You know for sure your hearing aid is analog. Ouch, go digital right away.
- Your hearing aid seems heavy. Clunky, old technology weighs more.
- Your hearing aid sticks out like a sore thumb. That old technology occupies a lot of space, as well.
- You are replacing the batteries every day. Contemporary hearing aids are more energy efficient, and many come with rechargeable batteries.
It’s not brain surgery. It’s time to replace your hearing aids if they’re more than 7 years old.