Are hearing aids really worth the cost? People who suffer from hearing loss are commonly worried about the cost. You wouldn’t pick homelessness over paying for a new house. Price tag isn’t the only value consideration when it comes to getting hearing aids.
When shopping for a big-ticket item like this you really should ask yourself, “what do I get out of wearing hearing aids, and what’s the cost of not using them?” If you decide not to purchase hearing aids, there will be a financial cost, as it turns out. You should factor these costs into your choice as well. Keep in mind some good reasons why getting hearing aids will save you money over time.
If You Choose to Purchase Cheaper Hearing Aids, You Will End up Spending More
You will likely find, when you’re shopping for hearing aids, that there are cheaper hearing aids that will appear to save you money. If you shop for hearing aids on the internet, you will most likely find some that cost less than a nice dinner.
Regarding over the counter hearing aids, you get what you pay for. When you purchase these devices, you’re in reality purchasing an amplification device like earbuds, not an actual hearing aid. They just amplify all of the sound around you, including unwanted noise.
Customized programming is the best function of a high-quality hearing aid, that you won’t get if you buy a low-cost hearing device. If your hearing aids can be programmed to manage your specific hearing needs, you will have a much higher quality experience.
Store bought hearing devices also use cheap batteries. Shelling out large amounts of extra money on batteries can be expensive. If you use the amplification device every day, you may possibly end up changing the battery up to a couple of times per day. The battery is likely to fail when you most need it, also, so prepare to bring lots of extras around with you wherever you go. If you’re constantly replacing dead batteries, are you really saving money in the long run?
Higher quality hearing aids last a lot longer because they are made with more efficient electronics. Many designs don’t even need to have their batteries replaced at all because they are rechargeable.
Issues With Your Career
Choosing to not use hearing aids, or wearing cheap ones will be costly at your job. Research conducted in 2013 and published in The Hearing Journal reports that adults with hearing loss don’t make as much money – as much as 25 percent less, and often have a hard time maintaining a job at all..
Why? There are lots of factors involved, but communication is vital in just about every industry and that’s the dominant factor. If you’re going to give good results, you have to be able to hear what your boss is saying. You have to be able to listen to customers so that you can assist them. You’ll probably end up missing out on the whole content of the conversation if you are always trying to hear what people are saying. To put it simply, if you cannot take part in conversations, it’s really difficult to succeed at work.
The struggle to hear on the job will cause stress to you physically, as well. You will find yourself physically worn down from the energy spent trying to understand what people are saying and worried about whether you heard them right. Here are some outcomes of stress:
- Your relationships
- Immune health
- Your overall quality of life
- Your ability to sleep
As a result, your income will decline due to the impact on your work efficiency.
Having to go to the ER more often
There are safety issues that come with hearing loss. It will be hazardous for you to operate a vehicle or cross the street if you don’t use quality hearing aids. If you’re unable to hear something, how can you avoid it? What about emergency warning systems like a tornado alert or smoke alarm?
For jobs like a manufacturing facility or a construction site, you have to be capable of hearing in order for you and your coworkers to be safe. That means that not wearing hearing aids is not simply a safety hazard but also something which can restrict your career possibilities.
You also should take into account financial security. Did the cashier 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 less expensive style would be all you would need, but it is hard to know if you’re unable to hear the person talk about the difference.
The Health of Your Brain
One of the most critical problems that come with hearing loss is the greater chance of dementia. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that Alzheimer’s disease costs individuals more than 56,000 dollars every year. 11 billion dollars annually is spent in medicare costs to treat dementia.
The risk of getting dementia and Alzheimer’s disease is a risk factor involved with hearing loss. Somebody who has neglected their hearing loss for a long time raises their chance of brain impairment by five fold. A modest hearing loss carries three times the chance of getting dementia, and even a slight hearing issue doubles your chances. Hearing aids bring the danger back to a normal level.
Obviously, there is a cost to purchasing hearing aids. If you look at all the concerns that come with going without 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.