Modern digital hearing aids are complex electronic devices, really micro computers dedicated to processing sound. Whilst it is a good idea to research the features of the aid and at least understand the rudimentary, it is easy to get bogged down in the tech speak and the Manufacturer's marketing blurb.
The easiest way to understand hearing aids and to answer what they will do for you and how they will help you in your daily life, is to equate the level of technology of the aid, the age of the platform and your lifestyle needs.
First off the age of the platform and the level of technology. Every manufacturer designs and releases a new platform from time to time. The platform is based on the chipsets or microprocessors in the aids. They will release the new top end aid with this platform and then the downgrades. These are the levels of technology within the platform, which are basically split into high, medium, low and basic.
The best way to understand this is to equate these levels to lifestyle needs.
High: Busy professional, young person with active lifestyle, old person with active lifestyle, child.
Mid: Most of the rest of us, active generally but activities tend to be in not so riotous settings.
Low: More Sedentary lifestyle, occasionally active but mostly home life and family gatherings.
Basic: According to my wife this is me, I dispute this but nevertheless, for somebody who wants to listen to the TV, Radio, take phone calls and occasional visitors.
So the three questions you need answered are, how old is the platform? How does the aid fit in the technology levels? Who makes the aid? Armed with these answers you can then do some research to see if what you have been told is true and how the aid fits into your lifestyle.
This brings us to your lifestyle, be honest about your lifestyle needs, equate them with your budget and then make a decision on the purchase. Each level of technology will assist you to hear better, absolutely no doubt. The key is where they will help you to hear better, what sound situations.
My best advice is to buy the best you can afford and buy two if you need two. Two cheaper aids will help you hear better than one expensive one. Always buy an aid from the latest platform from any given manufacturer. Once you research the platform age and tech level of the aids you can make an educated choice. You should also think clearly about the type of aid whether ITE (in the ear) or BTE (behind the ear).
Whilst the emotional choice tends to be the discreet in the ear model, that may well not be the right aid for you. I would say in fact for reliability a behind the ear aid is probably a better choice for several reasons. It will be more reliable in the long term and probably last a lot longer, once your dog, baby, cat doesn't eat it. Once that choice is completed and a purchase is made, you can then have realistic expectations about what the devices will help you accomplish. Then to look after them read the following.
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