The Truth About Cheap “Hearing Aids”

There are a couple different ways to think about the term “cheap hearing aids”. For somebody on a tight budget, it means “affordability”. But we’ve all heard the saying “You get what you pay for”, and in this case, the word “cheap” indicates low-quality hearing aids.

Regrettably, differentiating between a thrifty purchase and an item of minimal value is often challenging. This is especially relevant in the realm of hearing aids.

The saying “you get what you pay for” is especially relevant with hearing aids. This means weeding out the devices that are priced in the “too good to be true” range, not necessarily going for the most costly option. Companies marketing cheap hearing devices often leave out important details about their products that consumers should be aware of.

They usually just amplify sound

Amplifying the overall volume is typically the only thing cheap “hearing aids” are capable of. If you amplify the volume to hear the TV better, you’ll also get background noises including the dishwasher, a fan in a different room, a barking dog, or the sound of your house slippers going across the floor.

If everything is louder, it totally defeats the purpose of having a hearing aid.

A modern state-of-the-art hearing aid, in contrast, does a lot more than just crank the volume up. It skillfully manages sound, maximizing the clarity of desired sounds while tuning out background noise. Authentic hearing aids are tuned to your particular hearing needs, closely mimicking natural hearing with better accuracy.

Hearing aids vs. PSAPs

There are strict rules about what an advertiser can call a hearing aid as published by the Food and Drug Administration.

Unfortunately, many personal sound amplification products PSAPs are incorrectly marketed as hearing aids even though they just amplify sound.

There are lots of legit and reputable providers that comply with correct marketing. But there are some vendors, especially online, that might be misinformed about what defines the difference between hearing aids and PSAPs, and as a result, they put out misleading statements about their products. You might even find some that claim that they are FDA-approved when that’s actually false.

They aren’t helpful for the majority of kinds of hearing loss

The gradual loss of hearing often involves trouble hearing certain frequencies instead of an abrupt total loss. You might have a hard time understanding a little kid or a woman, for instance, but you have no issue understanding a man with a low voice.

You get total amplification with cheap hearing aids. However, if you struggle with certain frequencies, just boosting the volume proves insufficient. And turning the overall volume up could result in additional damage to your hearing because the frequencies you don’t struggle with will be booming in your ears.

High-quality hearing aids can be programmed to boost particular frequencies providing a much better solution. They offer a more customized hearing experience by shifting frequencies you can’t hear very well to frequencies you hear better.

Feedback can be a problem

Cheap hearing aids are generally not custom fit to your ears. Without that custom fit, you’ll create a feedback loop. As the speaker in your ear jiggles around, the microphone picks up the sound. What does this sound like? An ear-shattering screech.

They normally won’t help you on your cellphone

When people are looking for a budget-friendly device, they frequently sacrifice functionality like Bluetooth connectivity. The absence of Bluetooth becomes critical when thinking about phone connectivity. Trying to amplify a cheap hearing aid while on the phone leads to capturing not just the caller’s voice but also the sounds of your ear, lips, clothing, and hair brushing against the phone, making it even more challenging to hear the person on the other end.

In comparison, digital hearing aids utilize telecoil or Bluetooth technology, establishing a wireless connection between your hearing aid and the phone. This state-of-the-art feature ensures that when your daughter talks on the other end, her voice is sent directly into your hearing aids, enhancing clarity and overall communication.

They were never intended to treat hearing loss

This might come as a shock because so many people think otherwise. These amplifiers were never meant to treat hearing loss. They were made to help people who have relatively good hearing hear things a little louder.

Cheap devices might help a little if you only have slight hearing loss. But they won’t be of much help for individuals who actually need hearing aids.

Where can you get quality affordable hearing aids?

There are lots of ways to get hearing aids affordably. They might even be covered by insurance or other third parties. There are also affordable brands, leasing programs, and financing possibilities. If you think you have hearing loss, start by getting checked out. Make an appointment with us so we can help you get the best and most affordable hearing aids for your degree and type of hearing loss.