If you are wondering which style of hearing aid to choose there are some key things to keep in mind and most of them are around your personal choice, the advice from your hearing care professional and your lifestyle overall.
If you choose to go for an invisible or in the ear hearing aid these are designed to fit into your ear but they do not have anything that goes behind your ear. Generally, they are very comfortable to wear but sometimes people with dexterity issues may struggle with the smaller models. With the in the ear models not being as exposed to the elements they can often help with wind noise when outdoors.
The in the ear models are custom-made and may need to be cleaned more regularly as they are closer to things like earwax so build-up of this can affect the style of hearing aid you may choose. Neil can happily advise you on all of this so you do not need to worry about a thing. This style also takes smaller batteries which can be a little bit fiddly but as everyone is different, we always advise that the choice based on our recommendation, is yours.
The over the ear hearing aids are a great choice to provide a strong listening experience and they have slightly larger batteries but can fit neatly behind the ear and are often not seen. The microphone placement is different on these over the ear devices which may mean you experience a little more wind noise but most of the technology these days has sophisticated noise cancellation settings to help with this.
Over the ear hearing aids also benefit from microphones that can adapt to speech very well and reduce levels of background noise for your comfort and better hearing, even in the most challenging environment. Over the ear hearing aids now come in rechargeable models so there is no need to change batteries at inconvenient times. They can also link directly with your smart phone making conversation effortless, as well as turning your phone into a remote control for adjusting the volume and tone of your hearing aids.
There are all of the options available to you so when discretion in a hearing solution is your goal, it is important that you also balance this with the incredible technology inside them in a form factor or style that suits you and your daily life.
Some of our clients lately have chosen to opt for the more invisible or in the ear hearing aids because of wearing a mask as these can often be easier to handle when trying to manage everything all at once (for example, taking your mask off in the car after collecting your shopping).
The summary is that you should explore your hearing options with your hearing care professional. Neil thoroughly enjoys doing this with all of his clients because he can make a recommendation based on an audiological prescription, following a full comprehensive hearing test but then it is down to a collaborative discussion as to which option and solution is best for the person sat in front of him, that could be you.
If you would like to explore more about your hearing care options, please call Sally and Neil at Beckenham Hearing today www.beckenhamhearing.co.uk 020 8663 6187
