Hearing loss can interfere with many daily activities from watching television to talking to your loved ones. It’s often not just frustrating for those suffering personally, but for those around them as well. As we age, hearing loss becomes a bigger and bigger problem, getting in the way of a fulfilling life.¹ New advances in hearing aid technology are making hearing loss increasingly affordable to fix with designs that are unobtrusive, lightweight and effective.
Hearing Loss
According to the World Health Organization, around 466 million people around the world suffer from some form of hearing loss or deafness. Many of these individuals would benefit from wearing hearing aids.² Thankfully with technological advances hearing aids are becoming accessible to more and more people.
Acknowledging You Have A Problem
The first step to correcting hearing loss is admitting that you are in fact suffering from hearing loss. There is nothing shameful about it. If you are not hearing what people say frequently or find everyday conversations difficult, you could be suffering from hearing loss.³ Visiting a doctor and having your ears assessed is the best way to find out for sure. If the doctor determines that you are in fact hard of hearing, then investing in a pair of hearing aids is a great choice.
Why Do We Lose Our Hearing?
There are many different kinds of hearing loss. Generally hearing loss is caused by older age or environmental factors like not protecting the ears from ongoing background or work noise on a daily basis for years. Small hairs in our ears become damaged and stop working, leading to difficulty hearing. Diseases like meningitis and diabetes as well as injuries to our ears can also cause hearing loss. During a checkup the doctor will investigate what is going wrong with your hearing. It could even be a build-up of ear wax or a slight deformation in the shape of your ear.⁴
The Benefits Of Hearing Aids
Hearing aids have come a long way since the old days. They are increasingly lightweight, affordable and high-functioning. They are not obvious or embarrassing to look at and are integrated with digital technology so you can even adjust settings from an app on your phone. The price of hearing aids today generally ranges from $1,000 to $4,000 per hearing aid and they make a world of difference to those suffering from hearing loss.⁵
Are You Covered?
If you have health insurance in your job or are a veteran, your hearing aid costs may be partly or fully covered. For those who have Medicare it is generally not covered, although Medicare Advantage plans usually cover all or some of the cost of hearing aids.⁶
More Options
There are additional options if you are finding that the cost of hearing aids is keeping you from getting them. One is to contact a hearing loss charity such as Hearing Loss of America that helps fund the price of hearing aids for those who can’t afford them.⁷ Another is to contact manufacturers themselves, since they are sometimes aware of or authorized to give steep discounts on hearing aids which are still being tested in return for you providing some feedback.⁸
As always, it is good to do your own research online. Have a look at all of the different brands of hearing aids and the technological innovations that are making them more affordable. You can then pick out a pair that suits your style, budget and needs, resting assured that your days of difficulty hearing are behind you.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53869/
[2] https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52814-Hearing-loss-statistics-at-a-glance
[3] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077
[4] https://www.starkey.com/improve-your-hearing/frequently-asked-questions/common-causes-of-hearing-loss
[5] https://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/hearing-aid-cost.html
[6] https://www.healthyhearing.com/help/hearing-aids/insurance-financial-assistance
[7] https://www.audicus.com/best-hearing-loss-charities/
[8] https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2016/hearing-aid-costs-prices-cs.html