What is the Best Hearing Aid for First Time Users?

If you are new to hearing aids, it can feel a little confusing. There are a whole host of brands and manufacturers to choose from, as well as so many styles to choose and features to look more. The technology for hearing aids has changed so much in recent years, so there are a lot of discreet styles to suit your needs. But where do you start as a newbie looking at hearing aids?

Here are some of the key features to think about and that you should look for as a first-time hearing aid user. There are also some of the things that you should ask your audiologist about as well. You want to make sure that you have all the information to choose the hearing aid that will work best for you.

Directionality

The hearing aids that you choose should have a system in them made up of directional microphones. These will help your hearing aids to focus better, when there is a lot of noise around. Good directionality is one of the best ways that hearing aids can improve your speech understanding when there is a lot of noise. Good directionality will help you to be able to hear more clearly and more crisply.

As there are a few types of directionality with hearing aids, it is a good idea to ask your audiologist for a trial of hearing aids that have those different types, adaptive, fixed and dynamic. If there is some adaptive directionality, then it helps you to focus no matter where the speech is coming from. There is a fixed directional system that will focus more on something specific, and it will help you to keep focused there. Dynamic directional systems will change between the two, all around and a fixed direction.

Noise reduction

A lot of modern hearing aids have a form of noise reduction built into them. This will help you to be able to differentiate from speech and from just general noise, which can help you to hear well through reducing the incoming noise volume, all done in real time. How much the noise reduction will help does differ from brand to brand, so it is worth asking your audiologist how the hearing aids handle noise. You should also think about how quickly the hearing aids will adapt to different environments, and to noisy environments, so that you can just focus on the conversation around you.

Style

Hearing aids these days come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. There will be some that go behind the ear and the speaker will go in the ear canal. There will be some that go behind the ear, but then transmit the sound to the ear using a small tube. There will also be some that can be custom built and created just for you. But the ones that will work best for you will depend on a variety of different things, from comfort, personal taste and the level of hearing loss that you experience. So, it is worth asking your audiologist for something smaller if desired, as well as checking on things like battery life and hearing aid maintenance.

Connectivity

The modern world that we live in is very connected. And if you are going to be wearing hearing aids, you will want to know that you can stay connected with what you are using. The good news is that a lot of hearing aids do have the ability to connect to things like TVs and tablets, and some will even have Bluetooth technology. So, if this kind of thing is important for you, for work, then that is something to speak to your audiologist about. There are even hearing aids that will connect to your smartphone and help you to change the settings or volume, right there on your phone. So, some things to think about what is important to you regarding connectivity, and if you have everything that will work for you. Do you need hearing aids that can connect to your phone, or would you need to wear something around your neck for them to work? Think about what is going to work best for you, and then you can go from there.

If you are new to hearing aids and want to learn more, then get in touch with The Audiology Offices today at (804) 567-7005. We have an expert and experienced team that are waiting to take your call and guide you through the hearing aid process.