We all love a good bargain. But you need to be careful and look out for little details when it comes to your health.

The names “hearing aid” and “hearing amplifier” may seem similar but they are actually entirely different devices. And making the wrong choice could have significant ramifications for your hearing and your general health.

What is a hearing amplifier?

A little device that goes in your ear, a hearing amplifier increases the volume of external sound. These are generally quite simple, one-dimensional devices which the government classifies as personal sound amplification devices. The volume of the world is essentially turned up.

These devices are typically not suggested for individuals with moderate to significant hearing loss because of their one-size-fits-all approach.

Hearing amplifier aren’t hearing aids

It starts to become pretty apparent that hearing aids are not the same as hearing amplification devices when you recognize that amplifiers are not recommended for people with even moderate hearing loss. Hearing aids, obviously, are recommended for people who suffer from hearing loss.

Both hearing aids and hearing amplifiers make things louder. The biggest difference between the two devices is how cutting edge that amplification is.

• Picking out and amplifying speech is one of the primary features of a hearing aid. Because communication is so essential in our lives and also because of the irregular way hearing loss progresses, this is an important function. Because of this, hearing aid makers have invested monumental resources into improving the clarity of speech above all else. In order to make sure voices can be heard clearly even in a crowded room, advanced technology and algorithms are packed inside of modern hearing aids.
• Hearing aids can be calibrated for your environment. There are quite a few factors that will determine the specific acoustics of a space. Some hearing aids can adjust to these changes automatically. A dedicated device or smartphone can tune hearing aids that don’t do it automatically. By making minute adjustments to the settings of your hearing aid, you’re able to hear better in a wider variety of settings, meaning there will be fewer places you want to avoid.
• With hearing aids, only particular wavelengths of sound are boosted. That’s because people often lose their hearing one frequency at a time. Wavelengths at the higher and lower end of the spectrum are usually the first to go. Instead of making everything louder, hearing aids work to plug holes in what you’re hearing. For people who have hearing loss, this selective approach is more effective.

To put it bluntly, correctly treating hearing loss depends on these features. And these are attributes that are not present in most personal hearing amplifiers.

Finding the best solution at an affordable price

Along with a diminished ability to hear, untreated hearing loss can also lead to mental decline. With amplifiers, you’re likely to do more damage to your hearing as the device doesn’t distinguish frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe levels. And who needs to do that?

Unless your hearing loss is from earwax, hearing aids and some surgeries are the only authorized treatment options for hearing loss right now. Ignoring hearing loss and avoiding treatment doesn’t save you money in the long run. Untreated hearing loss has been shown to increase your overall healthcare costs over 40%. Luckily, there are affordable options. We can help.

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References

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077