- Hearing aids don't last forever
but how long should you go
before replacing them with new ones?
Well, in this video, I'm gonna share five things
that you can use to decide when the time is right
to get a new set of hearing aids.
Coming up.
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Hi guys, Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology
and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Anthem, Arizona
and on this channel, I cover
a bunch of hearing related information
to help making you a better informed consumer.
So, if you're into that,
consider hitting the Subscribe button.
Knowing when to get
a new set of hearing aids can be complicated
and basing that decision off of a strict timetable
doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
And even though hearing aid users, on average,
tend to replace their technology every 4.4 years,
that doesn't mean that every four years,
you need to bite the bullet
on getting a new set of hearing aids.
But it also doesn't mean
that you shouldn't consider technology
before that four-year mark.
So, let's jump right in and talk about the five key factors
that you need to consider when deciding
to get a new set of hearing aids or not.
Number one is are your current hearing aids capable
of treating the hearing loss that you currently have?
If you have a hearing loss, the chances of you
having that exact same hearing loss forever is unlikely.
And if you end up having a sudden drop in your hearing
or you have a tumor develop on one side or the other,
it may prompt you to need new technology
sooner rather than later
because your old technology might not be capable
of treating your new type of hearing loss.
Number two is insurance.
If your insurance is gonna pay a large percentage
of your new hearing treatment,
then it makes a lot of sense to consider
the new technologies the are out there.
Each year, hearing aid technology gets more advanced,
it helps you hear better
in a variety of different situations,
and if you're paying into your insurance,
you want to get the benefit of paying into that insurance.
So, if they're gonna cover a large portion
of your new hearing devices,
it's really worth taking that into consideration.
And I've even seen insurances
where they pay 100% of hearing treatment every single year.
Number three is warranty and repair costs.
Most hearing aids come with a three-year warranty
from the manufacturer,
although this can range from one to three years,
and it will cover repair costs of those devices
if they need to be sent into the manufacturer.
And it also has loss and damage in there,
which means if you lose your hearing devices
or you damage them to the point
where you can't even have them repaired,
you can get replacement devices inside of that warranty.
You can extend this warranty on a year-to-year basis
from the manufacturer, but they generally will limit you
on how many years you can do this.
Outside of that, you can go with a third-party company
to extend your warranty,
a company like ESCO will do this for you,
but when you end up extending the warranty,
this can add up in costs.
You can always go the route
of choosing not to have a warranty, but this can be risky
since having a repair done at a manufacturer
can cost you around $300
depending on which manufacturer it is
and that's for one hearing aid only.
If you have malfunctions
in two hearing aids at the same time,
that can be a pretty expensive bill
that you will get from your hearing care provider
in order to pay for those repairs.
The older a hearing aid is,
the more likely that it will have repair issues.
And so, sometimes it doesn't make a whole lot of sense
to take an old hearing aid and extend the warranty
and pay for repairs when you can just take that money
and shift it into a new set of devices.
Number four is technology improvements,
and like I mentioned before,
technology generally improves every year
and sometimes, these improvements are massive.
Take into consideration
when Made for iPhone hearing aids came out.
That dramatically improved
the way the individuals could hear when they're on the phone
and how well they could hear music
that they were streaming from their iPhones.
And then take into consideration the Oticon Opn hearing aids
that dramatically changed the way
the individuals would hear in background noise.
So, when there's massive changes like this coming out,
it really makes a lot of sense to switch into new technology
that will get you these massive benefits.
However, it is important to understand
that in order to maximize any new technology,
it's very important that your hearing care professional
performs real ear measurement on the new hearing aids.
Now, if you don't know what real ear measures are
and you wanna learn more about it,
I highly recommend that you watch my video
that I'll link in the card up here
and in the Description below.
And the fifth key factor in determining
when that time is right to get a new set of hearing aids
is are you still in a service plan?
Many clinics still bundle the cost
of their services in with their hearing aids.
This means that you are pre-paying for care
at that clinic for a specified period of time.
For instance, if you end up buying
a pair of hearing aids for $8,000,
a large portion of that $8,000
is going towards the service costs.
And if they give you service for five years
under that bundled model, it doesn't make sense
to upgrade your technology after three years.
You were essentially throwing money away.
Now, if you purchased your devices
in a un-bundled model of care delivery,
then you did not pre-pay for a ton of service
and you can consider upgrading your technology
even sooner without running the risk of losing any money.
But you definitely wanna take into consideration
the service cost
before upgrading any hearing aid technology.
Now, I have patients with hearing aids
that are 10-plus years old
and they still are meeting their needs.
And on the other hand, I have patients
who've needed to change hearing aids after a year
because they wanted the newer technology
or needed the features of newer technology.
So, there is no hard and fast rule of a timeframe
on when you should be getting new hearing aids.
Just remember that it is
your hearing care professional's job
to ensure that you are in the best treatment
for your hearing loss needs,
and this means identifying when that time is right
for you to consider new technology.
And this is a good thing
as long as they can justify that recommendation.
But what you don't wanna do is just assume
that they're trying to make more money off of you
by recommending new hearing treatment.
Now, if you get that feeling and they can't justify
why you should need new hearing devices,
then maybe you're going
to the wrong hearing care professional.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions,
leave them in the Comments section below.
If you liked the video, please share it
and if you wanna see more of these, just like this one,
go ahead and hit that Subscribe button.
I'll see you next time.
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