If this is your first time to buy hearing aids, it can be a confusing task. It is crucial to find the right place and right professional because you will spend anywhere from just under $2,000 to a little over $6,000 for a pair of hearing aids. This will not be the last time you do this, because people replace hearing aids every five to seven years. The steps to purchasing a hearing aid require a medical examination, hearing test and hearing aid selection and fitting. The whole process will take three to four office visits and may take one month from start to finish. It all depends on how quickly these visits can be scheduled.
Instructions
1. Start with a visit to your family doctor or primary care physician. Many times a simple ear cleaning restores your hearing. The doctor may screen your hearing if he has the equipment. If your ears or hearing look abnormal then you will be referred to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist (called an otolaryngologist). He will examine you to determine if medical treatment or surgery will correct the problem. Make sure that you get appropriate referrals for the office visits so that your medical health insurance will cover the office charge.
2. Hearing care providers are audiologists and hearing aid dealers or hearing instrument specialists. Audiologists have either a master's degree (M.A. or M.S.) or a doctorate (Au.D. or Ph.D.), so they have had four years of college and up to four years of clinical training in "audiology school". They are trained to diagnose and non-medically treat hearing loss with hearing aids and auditory rehabilitation. They are state licensed. Hearing aid dealers or hearing instrument specialists can also check your hearing. They are qualified to do hearing screenings and basic hearing tests. Their primary focus is to sell hearing aids. They require at least a high school diploma to dispense hearing aids, are "apprenticeship" trained and certified by the NB-HIS National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences. Hearing aid dealers/instrument specialists are either registered or licensed depending upon the state laws. Your family doctor or the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist will most likely send you to an audiologist for a formal and complete hearing test. This may include specialized diagnostics testing if you have one ear that is poorer than the other (unilateral or asymmetrical loss) or you have dizziness, vertigo, labyrinthitis, Meniere's disease or ringing in the ears (tinnitus). In order to select the best hearing aid you need accurate information about your hearing. Your hearing test must include a graph (called an audiogram) and speech discrimination or recognition scores. The audiogram shows the type and severity of your hearing loss. Your speech discrimination or recognition scores tell how clearly you can hear in each ear. They indicate how well you may understand speech with hearing aids. Your audiologist or hearing aid dealer will tell you if you need a hearing aid.
3. Have a medical examination and a hearing evaluation within six months prior to purchase. You should get a medical evaluation form signed by your physician that states that there are no medical conditions that prevent the use of hearing aids. You can sign a "medical waiver" if you are over the age of 18, but this is not recommended. Your medical health insurance may pay for a portion of your hearing test fees, so check with your insurance company before you schedule a visit.
4. Find a qualified hearing healthcare professional that you can trust because you will rely on her for advice, recommendations and guidance. You will also spend a lot of time with the professional so you need to feel comfortable with that person. It usually takes up to three or four office visits during the first 30 to 60 days to adjust to your hearing aids. ENT specialists and family medical doctors are rarely trained in hearing aids so you will need to meet with an audiologist or a hearing aid dealer/instrument specialist. Most people will discuss hearing aid options with the person who tested their hearing, so this may be the audiologist or hearing instrument specialist. Purchase your hearing aids at the office from a "good" professional whose primary focus is on being a health care provider, rather than a hearing aid seller. Look for someone who will listen to you and take the time to discover how your hearing loss affects your everyday living. That person should show competent knowledge of more than one brand of hearing aid and should match the type of digital technology, size or style, and options to your individual needs. He or she should be willing to work with you for as long as it takes to help you to hear better with the hearing aids.
5. Be sure your hearing aid professional has a current state license with the state licensing board. Check with the Better Business Bureau and state attorney general's office for any complaints. A recommendation from someone who purchased hearing aids from that professional is very helpful. You should be as diligent about selecting your hearing care professional just as you would do with any other health care provider. It is very important that you have a comfortable level of trust with your audiologist or hearing instrument specialist. You are going to rely on him for upcoming years but especially during the first month or so.
6. Learn about your hearing loss and your potential for better hearing with hearing aids. Everyone is capable of better hearing, but some will respond better than others. So you should be counseled on realistic expectations of what hearing aids can and cannot do. You should also be counseled on your experiences as you go through the process of adjusting to the new hearing aids. By the end of the visit you should have a good sense of the audiologist or hearing aid specialist's level of expertise and your ability to work together. It is hard to remember everything discussed in the office visit, so make sure you have pamphlets on hearing loss with general information about hearing aids and brochures about the hearing aids she has recommended. It is very important to have at least two choices and a price quote. The quote should explain the 30-day trial period, all costs, manufacturer's warranties, loss and damage insurance and all services the professional provides. If your medical health insurance plan has coverage for hearing aids, then you may need a referral for each office visit. Call your insurance company before you schedule a visit.
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