How to Select the Best Hearing Aids

Hearing aids are an investment in your health and serve as a bridge to help you communicate with the world around you again. Because of how important they are to your day-to-day life, many individuals aren’t sure what the best devices are. With a plethora of styles and features to choose from, the best hearing aid isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather, dependent on your personal needs and wants.

Do you want a discreet option?

Hearing aids come in different styles and colors, making some options more discreet than others. From in-the-ear (ITE) to in-the-canal (ITC) styles, these devices are custom-made to fit your specific ear anatomy and can be selected in neutral skin or hair tones. These devices are less visible to the outside world and can offer you a more natural listening experience.

Do you want a long battery life?

Although advancements are being made in hearing aid technologies, the average lifespan of a battery still requires multiple changes. If you value battery life or simply want to avoid switching them out multiple times during the week, then a BTE hearing aid might be the right option for you because they are physically larger, meaning they come with bigger batteries that can power your devices for longer.

Do you want more features?

Although hearing aids are becoming more and more advanced as time goes by, current technologies are rather limited. New hearing aids are starting to include features like wireless call functionality and some even come with relay accessories that can stream audio from Bluetooth-enabled devices. All of these features are fantastic but you may need to get a slightly larger hearing aid to house these extras. ITE and BTE hearing aids can both be equipped with multiple feature options.

Do you have poor finger dexterity?

If you don’t think that your fingers are capable of handling small objects then you may want to consider getting a larger hearing aid. This means that swapping batteries out will be easier since they are larger and changing settings doesn’t require precise finger movements.

BTE hearing aids generally come with larger batteries and buttons, making them the ideal choice for anyone that has poor finger dexterity and is worried about their ability to use their hearing aids to the fullest. However, it’s never a bad idea to speak with your audiologist to see if there are other hearing aids that are suitable for your level of finger dexterity.