For people with hearing impairment, hearing aids are a must-have essential. The components of hearing aids are typically similar – There’s a microphone that helps in picking surrounding sounds, amplifier that amplifies these sounds, and a receiver that delivers the sound into the ear canals of the patient. All products have electronic components and are powered by batteries, including digital hearing aids.
If we had to categorize hearing aids, it could be done in three segments – based on the design, based on features, and based on technology. For the last category, there are two options – analog and digital. In this post, we are discussing the basics of digital hearing aids – the latest option for patients.
Knowing analog & digital hearing aids
Analog hearing aids were the only choice previously, and the biggest downside of these hearing aids is the sound amplification. Besides speech, analog hearing aids also amplify noises in the room, which can disturb some users. In recent years, programmable hearing aids in this category have been launched, which are not as expensive, but work better than the standard ones. Users can choose to program the hearing aids for selected environments.
However, analog hearing aids are fast being replaced by digital ones. The latter has all the features, but are way better. In case of digital hearing aids, the sound is converted into digital signals for exact imitation. With advanced components and chips, digital hearing aids are capable of distinguishing between speech and surrounding sounds. In other words, users don’t have to be bothered about environmental noise. As far as programming is concerned, digital hearing aids are way better and can have memory too.
Features in digital hearing aids
Many digital hearing aids, including ones produced by Starkey, are compatible with smartphones, so you can stream music or calls directly from your device. Some are super easy to program, especially when you are moving from one environment to another. The design of digital hearing aids is also getting better with time, so no one needs to know you are relying on these products to hear.
Making a choice
Visit a clinic near you and talk to the experts and doctors to know more on what kind of digital hearing aids may work for you. Analog ones are no longer recommended in most cases, unless there are other issues, like budget. Listening to sounds or enjoying music doesn’t get better than this.
