With Hearing Aids, Consumer Reports Are Personal
Because everyones hearing loss is different, you need different kinds of hearing aids. So the hearing aids your Mom has wont necessarily work for you. You are most likely going deaf for different reasons with a different intensity than your Mom. So, without a set standard to compare one set of hearing aids to another, its impossible to fairy compare them. If you are looking for the edition on hearing aids, Consumer Reports cant help you. You need to look elsewhere.
What?
I said, You need to look elsewhere!
What?
Oh, knock it off. Anyway, if you are trying to compare hearing aids, consumer reports are available online done by actual customers of various hearing aids, so the reports are unbiased. One good place to check out is the Beyond Hearing Listserv. You can find information on hearing aids, consumer reports and you from associations such as AARP and the Hearing Loss Association. Your doctor and your health insurance company may also have information. Ultimately, with hearing aids, consumer reports of others mean nothing except how a particular hearing aid works for you.
Before You Buy
Dont just look at the advertisements for hearing aids. Consumer reports about any kind of company urge that when you are dealing with so much money, be sure that the hearing aid company exists! Sadly, there are fraudsters everywhere who have no feelings of guilt taking money from those in dire straits.
Also, you need to have your kind of hearing loss professionally diagnosed. You cant avoid going to the doctor on this one. If you dont and buy a hearing aid anyway, it could be like taking medicine for malaria when really all you have is the flu.
Dont rule our ready made or over the counter hearing aids, consumer reports on the web and from investigative journalists report. Since the demand is getting higher for more reasonably priced hearing aids, some over the counter hearing aids can help dramatically. But again, before you buy one, check with your doctor and ask if you need a special kind of personalized hearing aid. Some people just need some amplification, while others cannot hear certain tones. For example, this writer is partially deaf in her left ear. I can hear vowel sounds without any trouble, but consonants are tricky. Because my right ear is still working, I havent needed to check out hearing aids, consumer reports or doctors opinions just yet.
Open Fit Hearing Aids
There are some instances of deafness that cannot be helped by a hearing aid, regardless of what the sales person may promise.
It is important that you follow the Attorney Generals advice, and beware any deal that sounds to good to be true. Technically, the outer ear is shaped like a cupped hand, trapping sound and channeling it to the organs that actually do the hearing in the inner ear. The telecoil, due to the fact that the electromagnetic signal is all that is being received, eliminates the feedback associated with making a phone call using only the hearing aid microphone. Know the companys return policies in advance. The Consumer Protection Agency also has a website where you can download information on hearing aids in PDF format. However, there are a number of wonderful places, both on and offline, that will help you find the right discount hearing aids batteries.
As well there are some hearing aids which will even make a small beeping noise to notify you that the battery power is getting low.
A doctor will send the needs to the manufacturer and how it is programmed determines how hearing aids do work for each individual. Hearing aid batteries are typically what are called zinc-air batteries. This means checking out the brands of hearing aids that they offer and the prices that they are asking for them, so that you can see which companies offer the best quality and value.
All hearing aids, regardless of whether they are analog or digital, are specifically designed to increase the loudness of sounds that are reaching the ear drum so that the wearer is able to better understand noises and speech.
You are best going online to find hearing aids consumer information. All digital wireless handsets will need to be HAC compatible by 2008 or the FCC is not going to be happy. The cost of hearing aids makes many people think Hmmm. This is why many people have turned to the internet in order to purchase used hearing aids. |