When should I upgrade my hearing aids?
This is a frequent question we hear from our patients, and the answer demands some thought. While hearing aids ordinarily have a life-span of 3-7 years, there are a few scenarios in which you may desire to upgrade sooner.
Here are 4 reasons you may want to consider an upgrade.
1. Your hearing aids are no longer performing well
If your hearing aids are not working as well as they used to, the first thing to look into is cleaning or repair.
Hearing aids are subjected to earwax, moisture, and other particles, so your hearing aids may simply need a cleaning. Other times, the electronics within the hearing aids require repair, but otherwise the hearing aids are still effective.
If your hearing aids are damaged beyond repair, however, or if they are beyond their regular life-span, you may want to upgrade to a new set.
2. Your hearing requirements are not being met
Let’s say you secure a new job that requires a lot of talking on the phone, which has consistently been a problem for you with your current hearing aids. You hear about a new model of hearing aid that can stream calls wirelessly from your iPhone directly to your hearing aids, producing clear sound that you can conveniently adjust. In this scenario, you may want to upgrade your hearing aids to cater to your new hearing requirements.
It’s a great idea to put together a list of all the situations in which your current hearing aids are not performing to your preference. Then, by consulting with a hearing specialist, you can identify the hearing aids that can better meet your needs.
3. Your hearing has changed
Hearing can and does change through the years, and it’s possible that your current hearing aids, while initially sufficient, are now incapable of dealing with your hearing loss. If this is the case, you will require a new hearing assessment and a new set of hearing aids programmed to correspond to your hearing loss.
4. You want to reap the benefits of the latest technology
Hearing aid technology is advancing quickly; just 10 years ago it would have sounded like science-fiction to expect 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.
As an example, perhaps you just purchased a new Apple Watch and you discovered that a couple of the new hearing aid types are compatible. If you wish to control your hearing aids with the watch, you would need to upgrade to a suitable model.
The decision to upgrade your hearing aids in the end comes down to answering two questions:
- Are my current hearing aids meeting all of my listening requirements?
- Is there new technology or functionality that I would like to take advantage of?
Hearing aid technology is evolving quickly, and many of our patients are amazed to learn 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 to you.
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 might be surprised at what you find.