For the money you pay for hearing aids, are they really worth it. The price is commonly a worry for individuals who have hearing loss. Even so, when you invest in a house you don’t see the price and say, “well, being homeless is less expensive”! Cost is not the only value consideration with regards to purchasing hearing aids.
You really need to ask yourself what the cost of not getting hearing aids will be and what the actual value of using hearing aids is.” If you choose not to purchase hearing aids, there will be a financial cost, as it turns out. Your choices should also factor in these costs. Understand why you will save money in the long run if you decide to buy hearing aids.
If You Decide to Buy Cheaper Hearing Aids, You Will End up Spending More
While searching the hearing aids market, you will probably come across cheaper devices that appear to be less expensive. You could even buy a hearing aid off of the internet that cost less than a dinner.
You get what you pay for in quality when you buy cheap hearing devices. When you purchase these devices, you’re actually buying an amplification device like earbuds, not an actual hearing aid. They just crank up all of the sound around you, including noises you don’t want amplified.
Customized programming is the best function of a high-quality hearing aid, that you don’t have if you use a cheap hearing device. If your hearing aids can be programmed to target your distinct hearing needs, you will have a much higher quality experience.
The batteries in store bought hearing aids are also low quality. It becomes very expensive when you need to keep replacing dead batteries. You could wind up switching out batteries a couple of times each day if you go with a cheap amplification device. You’ll have to bring extra batteries around because they will normally fail when you need them most. If you’re constantly replacing dead batteries, are you actually saving money over time?
Higher quality hearing aids last a lot longer because they have more efficient electronics. Many even come with rechargeable batteries, doing away with the need for constant replacements.
Career Issues
You could end up earning less if you decide not to wear hearing aids or to wear cheap ones. A 2013 study published in The Hearing Journal states that individuals that have hearing loss don’t earn as much money – as much as 25 percent less, and are more likely to be without a job.
Why? There are lots of variables involved, but communication is vital in just about every trade and that’s the dominant factor. If you’re going to give good results, you need to be able to hear what your manager is saying. And in order to assist consumers or clients, you must poses strong listening skills. If you spend the entire discussion attempting to decipher what words people are saying, you’re probably missing the entire content. Simply put, if you cannot take part in discussions, it’s really hard to succeed at work.
There will also be a physical toll from trying to here on the job. Even if you are able to get through a day with compromise hearing, the anxiousness that happens if you worry about whether you heard something right and the energy necessary to make out as much as you can, will make you fatigued and stressed out. Some impacts of stress:
- Immune health
- Your relationships
- Your overall quality of life
- The quality of your sleep
As a result, your income will decline due to the impact on your work efficiency.
Having to go to the ER more frequently
Loss of hearing comes with safety issues. If you don’t have quality hearing aids, it will become hazardous for you to go across the street or drive a vehicle. How can you stay clear of something if you’re not able to hear it? What about public warning systems like a tornado alert or smoke alarm?
For jobs like a manufacturing factory or a construction site, you need to be able to hear in order for you and your coworkers to stay safe. That means that not using hearing aids isn’t just a safety hazard but also something that can restrict your career options.
Financial safety is also a factor here. Did you overpay the waitress for dinner because you had a difficult time hearing her? Do you really need all those new television features that you failed to hear the salesperson discussing with you? Perhaps the lower priced model would be all you would require, but it is hard to know if you can’t hear the person discuss the difference.
The Health of Your Brain
The increased risk of dementia is one of the most critical problems with hearing loss. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that Alzheimer’s disease costs people more than 56,000 dollars each year. Dementia accounts for 11 billion dollars in Medicare costs annually.
Loss of hearing is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and a variety of other kinds of dementia. Somebody who has neglected their hearing loss for a long time raises their chance of brain impairment by five fold. A modest hearing loss has three times the possibility of ending up with dementia, and even a slight hearing issue doubles your chances. Hearing aids decrease these dangers.
There’s little doubt that a hearing aid will set you back a bit. If you examine all the worries that come with going without one or buying a lower quality device, it’s obviously a sound financial choice. Consult a hearing care professional to learn more about hearing aids.