When should I upgrade my hearing aids?
This is a typical question we hear from our patients, and the answer requires some thought. While hearing aids typically have a life-span of 3-7 years, there are several situations in which you may desire to upgrade sooner.
Here are 4 reasons you may want to consider a hearing aid upgrade.
1. Your hearing aids are no longer working well
If your hearing aids are not performing as well as they once did, the first thing to consider is cleaning or repair.
Hearing aids are exposed to earwax, moisture, and other debris, so your hearing aids may merely require a cleaning. In other cases, the electronics within the hearing aids require repair, but otherwise the hearing aids are still effective.
If your hearing aids are harmed beyond repair, however, or if they are past their standard life-span, you may wish to upgrade to a new set.
2. Your hearing requirements are not being fulfilled
Let’s say you secure a new job that necessitates a lot of talking on the phone, which has regularly been a challenge for you with your present hearing aids. You hear about a new kind of hearing aid that can stream calls wirelessly from your iPhone directly to your hearing aids, giving you clear sound that you can readily modify. In this scenario, you might want to upgrade your hearing aids to meet your new hearing requirements.
It’s a smart idea to make a list of all the instances in which your existing hearing aids are not functioning to your preference. Then, by speaking with a hearing specialist, you can discover the hearing aids that can better fulfill your requirements.
3. Your hearing has changed
Hearing can and does change over the years, and it’s possible that your existing hearing aids, while initially sufficient, are now not capable of dealing with your hearing loss. If this is the case, you will need a new hearing test and a new pair of hearing aids programmed to correspond to your hearing loss.
4. You want to reap the benefits of new technology
Hearing aid technology is improving rapidly; just 10 years ago it would have seemed like science fiction to believe that you could stream music wirelessly from your iPod to your hearing aids. Each year, remarkable new functionality is added to new hearing aid models, and you may find that you’d like to reap the benefits of the new technology.
For example, maybe you just purchased a new Apple Watch and you learned that a few of the new hearing aid models are compatible. If you wish to control your hearing aids with the watch, you would need to upgrade to a appropriate model.
The decision to upgrade your hearing aids basically boils down to answering two questions:
- Are my current hearing aids fulfilling all of my listening needs?
- Is there new technology or functionality that I would like to take advantage of?
Hearing aid technology is advancing quickly, and most of our patients are amazed to find out what the new hearing aid models are capable of. And the fact is, you can’t really answer the second question without knowing what’s available.
If you would like to know what some of your options are, give us a call today and we’ll explain to you all the available technology and how it could make your life better and easier. You may be surprised at what you find.