Time To Read: 4 minutes
If you’ve had your hearing aids for more than five years, the chances are that you will need a new pair.
We’ve talked about why you should get new hearing aids every five years, even when they appear to be working particularly well.
But what are the things to look for that will tell you when it is time to replace those aids?
They’re constantly going in to be serviced and repaired
Hearing aids are a bit like your car. You and your hearing aids should book an appointment with your audiologists every sixth months or so for a 'tune up'.
Your audiologist will test your hearing. Then your hearing aids will be cleaned and tested to make sure they’re in good working order.
If there are issues with the hearing aid which cannot be sorted at your appointment, your hearing aids will be sent to the manufacturer for repair.
Your new hearing aids come with three year warranty and there should be no charge for repairs conducted under warranty.
At Value Hearing we recommend our clients send their hearing aids in for service before the end of the warranty period to help ensure trouble-free operation for longer.
After the warranty period expires there will be a charge for the service of your hearing aids. The older the hearing aid increases the chances that parts are no longer available for it. In the end your hearing aids might have second hand parts in order to keep in running.
In the end, old hearing aids will no longer deliver your best hearing.
You can’t hear as well as you used to
It’s not only your hearing aids which get old - you do too. Just like your eyesight, your hearing changes over time too.
This is why we recommend a hearing check every six months or so to identify any major changes in your hearing.
Different makes and models of hearing aids deal better with some types of hearing loss than others.
It might very well be that, over time, your ‘perfectly good, working hearing aids’ are not ‘perfectly good’ for you.
We encourage you to upgrade your hearing aids as your hearing needs change. It is a false economy to continue to wear hearing aids which are not delivering your best possible hearing.
Optimally working hearing aids do more than just help you get the best out of life, they also help your wellbeing and help reduce the risk of dementia. We look at the subject here.
There’s new technology to try
Hearing aids are improving all the time. Technology in the form of improved computer chips, programming, connectivity and integration gives you greater convenience and a lot more control.
One of the most popular new features is Bluetooth which means sound from TV programs, telephone calls and podcasts can be directly streamed into your hearing aids.
We take a look at the latest features in hearing aids in this article here.
