Longview, TX 903-708-6138
Marshall, TX 903-730-6394
San Antonio, TX 210-463-5996
Puretone Hearing Aid Center - Longview, TX and Shreveport, LA

Woman considering buying hearing aids.

The numbers don’t lie: at some point in your life, you’re more than likely going to need a hearing aid. A study from NIDCD estimates that about a quarter of all people from 60 to 75 have some kind of hearing loss, and that number jumps up to 50% for people 75 and older. The best means to deal with age-related hearing loss is to wear a hearing aid, but how do you know which model is the right one for you? Hearing aids used to have problems such as susceptibility to water damage and excessive background noise but cutting-edge hearing aids have resolved these sorts of problems. But to ensure that your choice of hearing aid is correct for you, there are still things you need to consider.

Directionality is a Crucial Feature

Directionality is one essential function you should look for, which is your hearing aid’s ability to focus on the particular noise around you (like a discussion) while reducing background sound to a minimum. One, if not both, of two directionality systems are functioning inside most hearing aids, they either focus on sound directly in front of you, or they focus on sound produced by different speakers and sometimes do both.

Will Your Hearing Aid Interact With Your Phone?

It’s become obvious, we’re addicted to our cellphone as a country. You probably have some kind of cell phone, either a smartphone or an older style cell phone. And on the unlikely event that you don’t have any kind of cell phone, you most likely still have a land-line. So, the way your hearing aid works with your phone is an essential consideration when you’re shopping for hearing aids. What is the sound like? Are you capable of discerning voices clearly? Is it Comfortable? Are there any Bluetooth connection features available? When looking at new hearing aids, you need to consider all of these.

Are You Likely to Use it?

In the last few years, as mentioned above, the development of hearing aids has significantly improved. One of those advances has been the size and shape of hearing aids, which have moved towards the smaller and more comfortable direction. Still, there will always be some trade-offs. A smaller hearing aid may not be as powerful as a bigger one, so it really depends on your hearing specialist’s suggestion and what you want to achieve with your hearing aid. You can get a hearing aid that fits right into your ear canal and is all but invisible, but it won’t have many of the features available in larger hearing aids and can sometimes be prone to earwax clogs. On the other side of it, a behind the ear hearing aid is larger and may be more noticeable, but often come with more directionality functions and have more choices for sound amplification.

Exposure to Specific Background Sounds

Wind noise has been an overwhelming problem for hearing aid users since they were invented. It could have driven anybody crazy to go outside on a breezy day and hear nothing but the wind. If you’re an outdoors kind of person or you live in a windy place, you’ll want to get a hearing aid that suppresses wind noise so you can have conversations at an average volume and avoid the headaches that are associated with hearing aid wind noises. Educate yourself about the many hearing aid choices available to you. Get in touch with us.