Who doesn’t enjoy getting a good bargain? But when it comes to your health, be careful what you purchase and keep your eye on the small details.

We know, it’s confusing, the names are pretty similar, but hearing aids and hearing amplifiers are not the same. And your general hearing and health could suffer severe repercussions if you make the wrong decision about this.

What is a hearing amplifier?

A hearing amplifier is a small device that, when placed in your ear, raises the volume of the sounds around you. These tend to be quite simple, one-dimensional devices which the government categorizes as personal sound amplification devices. The volume of the world is basically turned up.

Because of their one-size-fits-all strategy, hearing amplifiers are not recommended for people who have moderate to extensive hearing loss.

Hearing amplifier aren’t hearing aids

Once consumers learn that hearing amplifiers aren’t recommended for individuals with even moderate hearing loss, the differences between the two devices start to become pretty plain. Hearing aids, obviously, are encouraged for people who suffer from hearing loss.

Both hearing aids and hearing amplifiers have the ability to increase volumes. The primary difference between the two devices is how cutting edge that amplification is.

• Hearing aids are made to pick out and magnify certain frequencies of sound. Because hearing loss often advances frequency by frequency. Wavelengths at the higher and lower end of the spectrum are usually the first to go. Hearing aids work to fill in the gaps in your hearing rather than just making everything louder. This selective approach is much more beneficial for individuals with hearing loss.
• Picking out and amplifying speech is one of the main features of a hearing aid. To some extent, that’s as a consequence of the uneven way hearing loss develops, but it’s also because communication is such an essential function of your hearing. As a result, hearing aid makers have invested monumental resources into enhancing the clarity of speech above all else. In order to make sure voices come through clearly even in a crowded room, sophisticated technology and algorithms are bundled inside of modern hearing aids.
• Whatever environment you find yourself, your hearing aids can tune in to it. The acoustics of any given place will change depending on a lengthy list of variables. These adjustments can even happen automatically with some modern hearing aids. Other models can be tuned with a smartphone or a dedicated device. You will avoid fewer places because you will be capable of hearing better in a wider variety of places as your hearing aids make little adjustments.

To put it bluntly, properly managing hearing loss depends on these features. And these are features that are not present in most personal hearing amplifiers.

The right deal for your ears

Along with a diminished ability to hear, neglected hearing loss can also lead to mental decline. With amplifiers, you’re very likely to do more harm to your hearing as the device doesn’t distinguish frequencies and will most likely turn everything up to unsafe levels. And that’s not good for anyone.

Unless your hearing loss is from earwax, hearing aids and some surgeries are the only approved treatments for hearing loss right now. Neglecting hearing loss and bypassing treatment doesn’t save you money in the long run. Neglected hearing loss has been demonstrated to increase your general healthcare costs more than 40 percent. Fortunately, there are affordable options. Just ask us.

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References

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hearing-loss/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373077