Are hearing aids really worth the expense? The price is frequently a worry for individuals who have hearing loss. Still, when you invest in a house you never see the price and say, “well, being homeless is less expensive”! The real value of hearing aids is about much more than the cost.
When shopping for a big-ticket item such as this you really should ask yourself, “what do I get out of using hearing aids, and what’s the cost of not having them?” The fact is, there is a monetary cost for choosing not to purchase hearing aids. You should factor these expenses into your decision also. Keep in mind some good reasons why getting hearing aids will save you money in the long run.
If You Choose to Purchase Less Expensive Hearing Aids, You Will End up Spending More
While shopping the hearing aids marketplace, you will undoubtedly come upon cheaper devices that appear to be less costly. If you shop for hearing aids on the internet, you will probably find some that cost less than a nice dinner.
With regards to over the counter hearing aids, you get what you pay for. When you buy these devices, you’re in reality purchasing an amplification device similar to earbuds, not a real hearing aid. All of the sounds around you, including ones you don’t want to hear, are cranked up.
A quality hearing aid is custom programable which is not a feature that cheaper devices offer. You can attain an excellent sound by having a quality hearing aid programmed to address your distinct hearing needs.
Store bought hearing devices use cheap batteries also. It becomes very expensive when you have to keep swapping out dead batteries. If you use the amplification device regularly, you might possibly end up switching the battery up to a couple of times per day. You’ll need to bring extra batteries around because they will usually fail when you need them most. If you’re continuously purchasing dead batteries, are you actually saving money over time?
Higher quality hearing aids last a lot longer because they are made with more efficient electronics. Some even have rechargeable batteries, doing away with the need for repeated replacements.
Problems With Your Career
Choosing to not use hearing aids, or using cheap ones will be costly at work. Research conducted in 2013 and published in The Hearing Journal says that adults with hearing loss earn less money – as much as 25 percent less, and often have a hard time keeping a job at all..
Why? There are lots of variables involved, but communication is important in just about every industry and that’s the major factor. If you’re going to deliver good results, you need to be able to hear what your manager is saying. You should be capable of listening to clients so that you can help them. If you have to spend the whole discussion trying to decipher what words people are saying, you’re most likely missing the entire content. The bottom line is that it’s nearly impossible to excel if you can’t be a part of the conversation.
You will also experience a physical toll from trying to here while at work. Even if you manage to get through a day with sub-par hearing, the anxiousness that happens if you worry about whether you heard something right and the energy necessary to make out as much as possible, will make you fatigued and stressed out. Some impacts of stress:
- Your ability to sleep
- Your immune system
- Your overall quality of life
- Health of your relationships
As a result, your income will decrease because of the effect on your work performance.
More Trips to The ER
hearing loss comes with safety concerns. It will be dangerous for you to drive a vehicle or cross the street without quality hearing aids. How can you stay clear of something if you’re not able to hear it? And you risk not hearing a public warning alert system such as a smoke alarm or severe storm warning alarm.
For jobs including a manufacturing facility or a construction site, you have to be capable of hearing in order for you and your coworkers to be safe. So your safety, as well as your career options, will be restricted if you don’t wear the quality hearing aids you require.
Financial security is also a factor here. Did the waitress say that you owe 25 dollars or 85? Do you really need all those new television functions 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’re unable to hear the person talk about the difference.
Brain Health
One of the most important issues that come with hearing loss is the increased chance of dementia. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that every year people spend as much as 56,000 dollars dealing with Alzheimers disease.11 billion dollars annually is spent in medicare costs to treat dementia.
Loss of hearing is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and numerous other kinds of dementia. It is calculated that a person who has severe, neglected hearing loss increases their chance of brain impairment by five fold. A moderate hearing loss carries three times the possibility of getting dementia, and even a slight hearing issue doubles your chances. Hearing aids reduce these dangers.
Obviously, there is a price to getting hearing aids. If you look at all the worries that come with not getting one or buying a cheaper device, it’s obviously a sound financial decision. Schedule an appointment with your hearing care specialist today.
