What to Know About Purchasing a Hearing Aid

There are several choices when it is time for you to purchase hearing aids. With so many choices on the market today, it may be hard for you to choose the one that's right for you. The first thing you will need to do is to make an initial appointment with either an audiologist or hearing aid specialist. It is important to note whether or not the office has convenient hours, how easy it is to schedule an appointment, shows you active and up-to-date licenses as well as provide you with the training and experience the audiologist has been through. You will have to obtain medical clearance in order to qualify for a mechanical listening device. There are two ways to get medical clearance. The first way is the provider gives you a complete medical examination or they can ask you when the last time you had your ears checked was. The second way to obtain a medical clearance is that you need to sign a waiver. This form is accepted as a replacement for the medical examination. The provider will then talk to you about how your loss of hearing will affect your lifestyle, work, socializing, relationships and school. They will want to know how well you are able to hear another person during a phone conversation. Manual dexterity has to do with how well you are able to deal with small batteries since most hearing aids use small batteries. The audiologist will allow you the opportunity to talk about your activities, interests and lifestyle so he can determine how they will affect the type of listening device you choose. You will also be asked to talk about various situations that you encounter on a daily basis where you have to listen, such as in a movie theater or in noisy room. At this point during the appointment, the audiologist will discuss with you the different kinds of styles, brands, controls and features of the listening devices. Taking into account the answers you provided at the beginning of the appointment, the specialist should be able to recommend an assistive hearing device he believes would be the best for you. He will discuss with you the good points as well as the bad for each of your options. Once you pick up your hearing aid, the specialists will give you certain tests in order to make adjustments as needed. The specialist will then go over with you what the different controls on the hearing aid do, how to put in your mechanical listening device, talk to you about what type of battery is needed as well as go over any precautions you need to take such as not wearing the aids while you are in the shower. You should get a written contract that goes over how much the listening devices will cost you, how much you will be charged for your business to the specialists as well as the make and model of the listening device that you have.