If you resonate with any of the situations in the list, it may be time for a new hearing aid! But wait—don’t just chuck them out. Be sure to recycle or donate your old hearing aids.
Time for a New Hearing Aid: Difficulty Hearing People
This one seems pretty obvious, but hearing loss is usually so gradual that people take a while to notice that they find it harder to understand people. Like eyesight, hearing degenerates over time.
While you may not need to reprogram or switch your hearing aid as often as you would with your eyeglass prescription, it’s important to keep track of your quality of hearing. If you think your hearing has gotten worse, ask your audiologist for a hearing test to see if your hearing aids need to be reprogrammed or replaced.
Your Lifestyle Has Changed – Now It’s Time for a New Hearing Aid!
Your hearing aids should fit your lifestyle—not the other way around. A new career decision, marriage, or family member may add joy to your life, but it can also mean more demand on your hearing abilities.
Conferences at work or new social activities during the weekends may require you to transition from occasionally wearing hearing aids to wearing them all day. In this case, certain hearing aids are more discrete and comfortable for long-term wearing. It is important to always be attentive and aware of how well your hearing aids are performing, especially in new settings.
For instance, if you are a new grandparent or parent, or if you need to be more aware of your surroundings, or if your new job requires more in-person interaction, you should consider hearing aids with better noise control and more features. You want to be able to enjoy your changing lifestyle, and there is no better way to do so than with a customized pair of new hearing aids.
Changes in Your Health: Time for a New Hearing Aid
If you’ve been diagnosed with arthritis and find it hard to use the various switches and change the settings on your hearing aid, we recommend investing in hearing aids with bigger battery doors and automated noise/sound control to reduce the amount of fiddling you have to do with your hearing aids.
Cancer patients undergoing radiation therapy may also experience accelerated hearing loss due to treatments. It’s important for your or your loved one to receive consistent hearing checkups to see if hearing aids or reprogrammed hearing aids are necessary.
Better Technology Available Means a Cool, New Hearing Aid
In the world we live in today, technology changes so rapidly that sometimes it is difficult to keep up. With these advances in technology come better, smaller, more discrete, and even cheaper hearing aids that are worth the upgrade.
If you feel that your hearing aids are underperforming, you should consider browsing the market for any new technologically advanced hearing aids.
Obvious Call for a New Hearing Aid: Existing Pair Has Expired
Sometimes, you may feel that your hearing aids are not working as well anymore. The recommended usage of a hearing aid is four to six years.
The maximum recommended lifespan of a hearing aid is seven years, assuming the hearing aid is well maintained. If you have had your hearing aids for over 7 years, take a hearing test and treat yourself to a brand new hearing aid!