A Guide to Choosing the Right Hearing Aid

There is not one best hearing aid for everyone. 

Technology Levels:

Premium: very active, will give you the best a manufacture has to offer. Best background noise reduction and allow us to fit the hearing aid customized to you. We have more frequencies to adjust give you the sound quality you need and want. 

Advanced: more active, less frequencies we can adjust. It is also not going to cut down on loud background noise such as crowds and talking in cars. 

Select: active, has fewer frequencies we can adjust and less background noise reduction. Select will not reduce the loud noise. If you spend most of your time at home, then you really do not have a lot of noise to cut down. 

Lower than Select: we have them, but unless you live in a nursing home not even trying to have a conversation with the TV going, these hearing aids are not for you. 

Styles of hearing aids:

Custom: We make an impression of your ear canal and custom make the hearing aid (HA) to you. There is several custom HA, IIC (invisible in the canal), CIC (completely in the canal), ITC (in the canal), ITE (in the ear). 

Behind the ear: We also have a few different shapes and styles behind the ear HA. I am just going to stick with the basic two, BTE (behind the ear) and RIC (receiver in the canal). 

Premium HA gives you the most benefit. If you do not have a lot of background noise, then the lower-level HA could work for you. If price is not a factor, then get the premium HA. The sound quality will be better.  

If your hearing loss is only in the upper frequencies, I would get the RIC. If your lows frequency is good, we plug your ear up with a custom HA then put the sound back in your voice will sound tonally and echoey. If your hearing loss in the lows, then you can wear a custom HA. The IIC HA go past your second bend, and you generally will not get that tonally, echoey sound to your voice even if you have good hearing in the lows. IIC’s do not have all the feathers the other HA have due to their size. They also tend to be in for repair more often than other HA. 

Everyone is different, hearing loss, perception of sound and hearing environments it hard to have best fit HA for everyone. Come in for a consultation, I would be more than happy to go over what HA will work best for you.

Hearing aid manufacturers are all different and quite the same as car manufacturers. We have our favorites. It is a tough call on what one is the best. 

Good news, you can demo a hearing aid like you test drive a car! When in doubt ask for a demo then you can hear for yourself if you like the sound quality. Also, I give a 60-day full money back guarantee without fees. Make sure you know if there are any fees if you return during the return period. 

Call Accurate Hearing today for a FREE hearing test 907-644-6004 we are here to help. 

Donna R DeMarco, AAS, CDP, BC-HIS

Tinnitus Care Provider

Holding a Certificate from the International Hearing Society