Hi guys, Cliff Olson,
Doctor of Audiology and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix,
Arizona.
And in this video I'm talking about the biggest problem that I'm seeing with
earbud style over the counter hearing aids coming up.
The whole intent of over-the-counter hearing aids was to design a new category
of devices that was more affordable and accessible for adults with perceived
mild to moderate hearing loss who may not be ready for prescription hearing aids
yet. The hope is that over the counter hearing aids would become a good starting
point for individuals in this mild to moderate hearing loss category and
ultimately increase hearing aid adoption rates.
If we look at the pyramid of hearing aid market penetration,
we can see that the majority of people with hearing loss have a mild to moderate
level of loss.
Yet these are the groups that are much less likely to treat their hearing loss.
Hopefully within the next several years,
over the counter hearing aids will lead to a higher percentage of these
individuals in the bottom levels of the pyramid treating their hearing loss,
perhaps yourself included.
Now that we finally have a regulated OTC hearing aid category,
we're starting to see multiple hearing aid manufacturers create these new
over-the-counter devices. However,
before over-the-counter hearing aids were even a thing.
I've been reviewing direct-to-consumer hearing aids that I expected to naturally
transition into this over-the-counter category. And you know what?
That is exactly what happened when the over-the-counter hearing aid final
guidelines came out. Establishing this new category in October of 2022,
being able to review these types of devices for the past six years has helped me
really understand the pros and cons of them.
And since the official release of over the counter hearing aids approximately
eight months ago,
I have sold hundreds of these over-the-counter style devices allowing me to
learn even more about them and what patients like and don't like about them. But
before I share my feedback,
if you could do me a huge favor and click that like button,
it really helps out my channel.
And if you are not yet subscribed to the channel with notifications turned on,
go ahead and do that as well,
because that ensures you never miss one of my newly released videos.
And I release a ton of new videos every single week. First and foremost,
the biggest thing that I learned about over the counter hearing aids when they
were released eight months ago is that a lot of people were putting off hearing
treatment, waiting for over the counter hearing aids to arrive.
While this is not good because a lot of people put off hearing treatment for
nearly five years at this point,
it's a good thing because a lot of people are now actually considering treating
their loss or they weren't considering it before. Individuals who fell within
the candidacy range of an over-the-counter hearing aid were now able to try them
officially.
And individuals who fell outside of the candidacy range we're now finally
willing to accept their level of hearing loss and then go the prescriptive
route. We have also seen some patients who are satisfied with their level of
performance using an over-the-counter hearing aid and use them situationally
throughout the day.
Another thing that we have seen with over-the-counter hearing aids is the
willingness to try different styles of devices. Now,
we have over the counter hearing aids that look a lot more like a wireless
earbud compared to a receiver in canal design like we traditionally see with
hearing aids, which has led to a more broad appeal.
Of these devices to individuals with a mild to moderate hearing loss.
But as much as I love these wireless earbud designs,
there is one major problem that I've identified with them over the course of the
past several years, and that is the occlusion effect.
The occlusion effect is a phenomenon that occurs when you essentially plug up
your ears with something,
a lot like a wireless earbud style over the counter hearing aid.
This causes the sound of your own voice that bone conducts through your jaw into
your ear canals to be trapped inside your ear canals and vibrate your eardrum.
Making your own voice sound boomy and loud to yourself.
This also makes the sound of chewing on food, especially crunchy food,
extremely loud.
Go ahead and plug your ears yourself and talk and see what it sounds like. Now,
imagine wearing an over-the-counter hearing aid that caused that all the time.
Almost all of these earbud style devices have a rubber dome on the tip of
them that has no ventilation whatsoever.
So the sound of your voice cannot escape outside of your ear canals.
And while these wireless earbuds style over the counter hearing aids can improve
your hearing, even for streaming from your smartphone into your ears,
for things like music and phone calls,
it can almost be impossible to wear them consistently because of this seclusion
effect.
That's why Jabra today's video sponsored developed the Jabra Enhance Plus
over-the-counter hearing aids with their new vented ear gels.
Just by putting these tiny vents on the tips of these vented ear gels,
Jabra was able to significantly reduce the occlusion effect while still
improving your hearing. At the same time.
By allowing the vibration of your own voice to escape outside of your ear
canals, it can significantly improve the perception of your own voice and almost
eliminate the occlusion effect. This also allows you to keep your jobber
enhanced plus over the counter hearing aids inside of your ears while you're
eating,
which is a pretty big deal if you want to hear what other people are saying when
you go out to a restaurant.
But that is not all that you can do with the Jabra Enhance Plus over the counter
hearing aids,
you can also test your hearing using the Jabra Enhance app on your smartphone
using the closed domes to customize your initial amplification settings.
Once you've personalized the audio,
you can also set your preferred speech filter to clear,
normal or full based on your preferences.
Then you can adjust the listen mode to adaptive or surround or even focus mode
that has been specifically designed for use in noisy environments.
You also never have to worry about changing your batteries because the Jabra
Enhance Plus over-the-counter hearing aids come with a new and improved 12 hour
battery life on a single charge. The best part is since Jabra is owned by GN,
and GN owns the major hearing aid manufacturer, resound,
you know that you're getting a legitimate over the counter hearing aid that has
been designed to enhance speech but not the background noise.
If you would like to check out the Jabra Enhance Plus over the counter hearing
aids for yourself, I will have them linked down in the description.
If you eventually find yourself migrating your way up this pyramid to the
moderately severe to severe levels of hearing loss,
you can always naturally transition into a prescription hearing aid like the
Resound Omnia. Ultimately.
There are way more pros than cons when it comes to over-the-counter hearing
aids, especially if you can eliminate the occlusion effect.
And with continued improvement to the devices in this over-the-counter hearing
aid category,
I expect to see more and more individuals with a mild to moderate hearing loss
take that first step to hearing treatment.
So if you're considering stepping into the world of hearing treatment,
let me be the first one to welcome you.
Just make sure that you get the right devices so they end up inside your ears
instead of in the drawer.