How to Match your Hearing Device to your Priorities

What’s important to you?

We’re all individuals with different needs: What’s important to one person may not be to another. The same goes for our hearing and the device we choose to improve our ability to hear.

For example, if it’s taken you years to pluck up the courage to take a hearing test, then you may want a small and discrete hearing device. However, if your problem is severe and hearing anything is a battle, then amplification comes top of the list with less emphasis on looks.

The great news is that the wide choice of hearing devices available means there’s something to suit each individual. But indeed the choice is so wide that it can be baffling, so here are some points to think about in order to get that perfect match.

Hobbies and interests

Write a list of your hobbies and interests, then have a think about the challenges they place on your hearing. For example, if you attend a book club, people will talk in a quiet room, however if you travel a lot you may spend time in noisy stations.

Things to think about include whether you regularly participate in group discussions or tend to speak one-on-one. Do you work in a quiet environment with few distractions or in a noisy office? When holding a conversation, do speakers stand directly in front of your or do you need to hear the grandkids in the back of the car?

Showerproof or Waterproof? 

If you swim regularly then a waterproof hearing device means you don’t have to remove the device and sacrifice your ability to hear whilst you swim.

But having a waterproof or showerproof device doesn’t end there. If you exercise heavily and tend to sweat or if you work in a dusty environment where grit could get into a normal device, then the added robustness of such a device may suit you well.

Keeping up appearances 

Be honest about what it would take to make you wear the hearing device regularly. If you feel self-conscious, then a discrete in-the-canal device may be the answer. These are so small and fit wholly within the ear canal which means that hearing loss can be your littler secret.

Turn up the volume

Perhaps you’re not new to wearing a hearing device and your hearing has been slowly deteriorating. In this case, prioritizing sound amplification may rise to the top of the list.

Nimble fingers … or butter fingers  

Take another honesty tablet and know how dexterous you are. If small switches and dials would be a constant source of frustration, now is the time to recognize it.

And finally, don’t worry. You won’t have to identify your ideal hearing aid yourself, the audiologist will guide you. Their training and expertise means when you provide the facts, they can come up with the ideal device to improve your hearing.