Small Steps Toward Buying a Hearing Aid

If you believe that you may benefit from wearing a hearing aid, it's certainly something worth exploring. While experts are quick to warn potential users that they should not expect to have their ability to hear magically restored by one of these devices, they can certainly make a big difference. They have helped millions of people cope in situations they thought would be impossible for them to enjoy again. Here are the small steps you should take on the road to buying one.

See Your Doctor

Buying a hearing aid is not a decision you should make after diagnosing yourself over the Internet. You need to get checked out by a doctor. While noise related damage cannot be corrected, there are forms of auditory loss that can be, including the often overlooked issue of earwax buildup. You would feel immensely silly buying a $3,000 dollar device when all you needed was a wax flush. Make sure you get checked out by a doctor and then, if it turns out that you could benefit from a listening device, you can go from there.

See an Audiologist

While your primary care physician can make some preliminary observations about your ears and evaluate the causes behind your auditory loss, you should see a professional audiologist when it comes time to decide what kind of hearing aid you should buy. They will put your through an audiometric test to determine your level of impairment, ask some questions about what you're dealing with in terms of obvious problems, and come to a decision about what might help you the most. This kind of advice and evaluation is very helpful, especially since you probably know very little about what you're getting into.

The Future

In many cases, auditory loss is a progressive condition. That means your natural ability to hear in three years could be worse than it is today. At the same time, a good hearing aid should last five or six years. At the price they charge for these devices, you want to make sure you get a full life span out of your purchase. Therefore, it's a good idea to ask about residual amplification. In other words, can you grow with your device? As your ability to hear worsens, will the device be able to keep up with your needs? This is why you're better off getting a model closer to the middle of your auditory range than the very minimum you need at the present time.