Are hearing aids actually worth the expense? People who deal with hearing loss are normally concerned with the cost. Still, when you invest in a house you don’t learn the price and think, “well, being homeless is less costly”! The actual value of hearing aids is about a lot more than the price.
When shopping for a big-ticket item like this you really have to ask yourself, “what do I get out of using hearing aids, and what’s the cost of not using them?” The fact is, there is a monetary cost for deciding not to buy hearing aids. You should factor these costs into your decision also. Recognize why you will save money over time if you choose to buy hearing aids.
You Will End Up Spending More if You Decide on Cheaper Hearing Aids
You will probably find, while shopping for hearing aids, that you can find cheaper hearing aids that will seem to save you money. If you shop for hearing aids on the internet, you will probably find some that cost less than a nice dinner.
You get what you pay for in quality when you buy cheap hearing devices. When you purchase these devices, you’re in reality purchasing an amplification device similar to earbuds, not an actual hearing aid. All of the sounds around you, including noises you don’t want to hear, are amplified.
Personalized programming is the best function of a high-quality hearing aid, that you don’t have if you buy a low-cost hearing device. If your hearing aids can be programmed to manage your distinct hearing needs, you will have a much higher quality experience.
The batteries in store bought hearing aids are also cheap. Shelling out large amounts of extra money on batteries can be expensive. You could wind up swapping out batteries a couple of times every day if you go with a cheap amplification device. The battery is very likely to die when you need it most, also, so prepare to carry lots of spares around with you wherever you go. Do you really save cash if you need to exchange worn out batteries all of the time?
Higher quality hearing aids last a lot longer because they have more efficient electronics. Many even have rechargeable batteries, getting rid of the need for repeated replacements.
Problems With Your Career
You could end up earning less if you choose not to wear hearing aids or to wear cheap ones. A 2013 study published in The Hearing Journal states that less money is made by people with hearing loss – up to 25 percent less, and are more likely to be jobless.
Why? There are lots of variables involved, but communication is vital in pretty much 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. You need to be able to listen to customers so that you can help them. You’ll probably end up missing out on the whole content of the discussion if you are always struggling to hear what people are saying. The bottom line is that it’s just about impossible to excel if you can’t take part in conversation.
The struggle to hear on the job will take it’s toll on you physically, also. 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 needed to make out as much as possible, will make you exhausted and stressed out. Here are some outcomes of stress:
- Health of your relationships
- Your overall quality of life
- The quality of your sleep
- Immune health
All of these have the possibility of impacting your work performance and lowering your income as a consequence.
More Trips to The ER
There are safety problems which come with hearing loss. Without quality hearing aids, it will become hazardous for you to cross the street or drive a vehicle. If you can’t hear something, how can you steer clear of it? And you chance not hearing a public warning alert system including a smoke alarm or severe storm warning alarm.
For jobs like a manufacturing facility or a construction site, you need to be able to hear so that you and your coworkers to be safe. So your safety, and your career options, will be limited if you don’t use the quality hearing aids you require.
You also need to take into consideration financial safety. Did the cashier say that you owe 25 dollars or 85? Do you really need all those new television features that you failed to hear the salesperson discussing with you? You may end up paying more than you need to for features you don’t actually need.
The Health of Your Brain
One of the most important issues that come with hearing loss is the greater chance of dementia. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that each year people spend as much as 56,000 dollars dealing with Alzheimers disease.11 billion dollars every year is spent in medicare costs to treat dementia.
Hearing loss is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and various other types of dementia. It is calculated that a person who has severe, untreated hearing loss increases their risk of brain impairment by five fold. The risk of getting dementia goes up by three times with moderate hearing loss and doubles with even minor hearing loss. Hearing aids mitigate these dangers.
There’s no doubt that a hearing aid will set you back a bit. If you examine all the concerns that come with not getting one or buying a lower quality device, it’s unquestionably a sound financial decision. Consult a hearing care specialist to find out more about hearing aids.