What are the differences in Hearing Aids?
Hearing Aid Options
At Atlantic Hearing Clinic in Saint John, we work with many different hearing aid manufacturers. Because we are locally owned and operated, we get to choose what hearing aids work best for our clients. This choice is based on experience and client feedback over many years of practice.
One of our missions is to help our clients make an informed decision on what would work best for them, long-term. In order to do this, we must get to know our clients as a person and discover what their unique listening needs are. Since no two individuals are the same, our recommendations for hearing aids will often change on a case-by-case basis.
Hearing Aid Styles
There are many different styles of hearing aids. Some are better suited than others for certain hearing loss type, the shape of the ear canal, the volume needed, etc. Dexterity and visual acuity is also taken into consideration to discover what might work best.
For instance, a client may wish to have the smallest hearing aid on the market to make it more invisible. However, this will not work well for them if they cannot see the tiny batteries that need to be changed every 3 days, or cleaning the minuscule wax filters. A rechargeable, behind-the-ear hearing aid might work better for this person. (*see hearing aid myths) At Atlantic Hearing Clinic, we educate you on all the different hearing aid options including the pros and cons of each to help you make an informed decision.
From smallest to largest and most powerful, there are completely-in-the-canal (CIC), in-the-canal (ITC), in-the-ear (ITE), receiver-in-the-canal (RIC), and behind-the-ear (BTE). The BTEs are typically reserved for the most severe hearing losses because they are the most powerful. Today, RIC hearing aids are the most popular option. Even though they sit behind the ear, they are small and often match hair color.
Clients are often surprised at how comfortable and invisible these hearing aids are. Options include rechargeability and Bluetooth connectivity. These are also popular because if they get plugged with any wax, we can clean and repair them in-house in just a couple of minutes. It is very easy to change the speakers on them to make them more powerful should hearing worsen.
Hearing aid technology changes very quickly and new hearing aids are brought onto the market each year. We always stay up to date with training so you can be rest assured that we will always be providing the newest and greatest.
Hearing Aid Manufacturers
There are many different hearing aid manufacturers in Canada. Each one has a slightly different look with unique features and options available at different price points. They can also vary by warranty. There are hearing aids on the market that can track your steps, are waterproof, have special music programs, can stream to Bluetooth devices like cell phones, and even track your heart rate or whether you have fallen! As you can see from this list, not all of these features are necessary to hear better but make for incredible technology capabilities. One size does not fit all so our job is to determine what will work best for you, considering your unique listening needs.
Hearing Aid levels of technology
With hearing aids, there are many different levels of technology. I often think of them like a car; you have your standard, mid-level, and advanced models. They all work well to amplify your hearing but some may make hearing a bit easier than others.
They all visually look the same but the computer chip inside is different. The more advanced level of technology can make it easier to listen in noisy situations. They often have automatic noise-reduction programs that make for less required listening effort. As we age, the brain is slower to process unwanted noise to help focus on speech sounds.
A higher level of technology can assist in this respect. For example, if you are sitting in a busy restaurant at a long table, you probably can only hear the speakers that are closest to you. If there is more than one person talking at the same time, it is very difficult to tune those out that you don’t want to hear to focus on who you do. This is also the case for those with normal hearing, but often worse when you have hearing loss. (*see expectations of hearing aids)
Hearing aids are sophisticated devices that automatically adapt to the acoustical environments that you are in. For example, say you are alone in the kitchen making dinner when your spouse walks into the room and asks “What’s for dinner?” the environment goes from quiet to conversation in quiet. The hearing aid picks up on these subtle changes and automatically adjusts so that you always have the best listening experience possible.
When it comes to more complex environments (situations where there is a lot of noise), the instruments have to work harder to clean up the sound (reduce the background noise and focus on speech) to make it easier for you to hear the conversations and understand what is being said.
Just like other forms of technology, hearing aids are offered with a range of features, some of which are optional. While all levels provide you with an improvement in restoring some of the sounds you are missing, the more complex environments require more advanced features to help clean up the sound so that you can hear well.
Standard hearing aids
At the standard level, you are getting amplification which restores the basics of good hearing. The downside here is that as environments become more complex, there may be some situations where you will continue to struggle (such as conversations in a small group where others are talking at the same time, like coffee with friends or bible study).
Mid-Level hearing aids
At the mid-level, you are getting the best of both worlds as more features come into play so that you can hear well in a wider range of environments. The majority of environments are covered, while you may continue to struggle in a crowd like a cocktail party or large event. In Saint John, this is the most popular level of hearing aid that we end up fitting clients with as it includes 90% of people’s needs.
Advanced hearing aids
On the premium end of the scale, the instruments are working with all of the features so that you have the best possible sound in any given environment. The technology that is packed in such a small hearing aid to work well in noisy environments is rather remarkable.
Flex: trial
To determine which level of technology might work best for you, we like to fit clients with a free hearing aid trial that they can take home for a few weeks. This means you get to try before you buy, giving insight into if you’re ready for hearing aids. Some hearing aids will collect data on how much noise is in your environment so we can make an informed decision on how we program your hearing aids. (*see trial hearing aids)
Cost of Hearing Aids
We then take budget and financing options into consideration to find something that will work well for our clients. (*see the cost of hearing aids) Hearing aids range in price ($1800-$3600 per hearing aid), depending on the optional features that are chosen. The cost includes having our Audiologist properly perform a hearing test and fit the new hearing aids to your specific hearing loss. We work with Medicard for financing monthly payments, Options Outreach, Veterans Affairs Canada and WorkSafeNB, among others.
We investigate all funding options available to you no matter what model of hearing aids you decide on. You will find our approach to be non-sales oriented and completely focused on enabling you to hear better.
At Atlantic Hearing Clinic, we believe in and practice person-centered care. Contact us to discuss these options and to experience trial hearing aids. We can’t wait to meet you!