Customisation: Why Personalised Hearing Aids Trump One-Size-Fits-All

If you have a hearing loss and are looking for hearing aids, your research will show you that there is a range of hearing solutions available, and that hearing aid prices vary significantly. Some of those available solutions could be ‘off-the shelf’ hearing aids which you can buy and potentially adjust yourself. Or they might be custom hearing aids fitted by a hearing care professional. Initially, the ‘off-the-shelf’ options can seem attractive as they initially cost less. However, these options can have their drawbacks, and often a customised solution will give you better results, and better value for money. This blog will explore the pros and cons of ‘off-the-shelf’ hearing solutions compared with customised, professionally fitted ones.

Hearing aid cost is often a significant consideration when a person with a hearing impairment is looking for hearing aids. However, the other extremely important consideration, is whether the hearing aids will provide you with the benefits that you need to be able to hear and communicate effectively in your life. When you buy a hearing solution that is customised for your hearing needs, your hearing clinician has taken the time to understand your needs, your hearing loss, your budget, and the anatomy and shape of your ears. They do this through a thorough evaluation of your hearing loss, and discussion with you. They then use their expert knowledge to choose recommend options to you that best suit you based on their expert knowledge of all the hearing aids available. When you buy a non-personalised hearing solution, you miss out on this expertise. Consequently, the hearing solution you buy, may not be appropriate for you, resulting in it not helping you hear better in the situations you need it too.

Choosing the right hearing solution, is just the first step to hearing well. When you buy a customised hearing solution from a hearing clinic, the clinician will use their expert hearing knowledge to adjust the hearing aids so that you hear your best from them. This usually involves working with you over several appointments to optimise the hearing aids for you. When you buy a non-customised hearing solution, you may have limited options to adjust the hearing aids yourself, however, you probably won’t how to adjust them to get the best out of them. Any hearing solution that is not adjusted properly according to best practices will fail to give you the best outcome for your hearing and communication.

Often people who buy non-customised hearing solutions end up either not using them, or needing to go to a clinic to see if they can be expertly adjusted for them – which may or may not be possible depending on the technology and whether the hearing solution was appropriate in the first instance. While the lower-cost of non-customised, ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions can be appealing, purchasers often end up spending more money in the long-run by needing to engage extra support, or having to replace them much earlier than they would have if they had bought a customised solution from a hearing clinic.

Customised hearing aids, that are tailored for your needs, are often not only better value for money in the long run, but they are also optimised to give you the best hearing possible so you can communicate with those you care about. At Hearing Aid Specialists SA, our expert hearing clinicians can help you find the right customised hearing aids for your needs and will use their expertise to fit them, so you get the most benefit from your hearing aids.

If you have a hearing loss and need hearing aids, Hearing aid Specialists SA are here to help you find the best personalised solution and fit it optimally to your hearing loss. Book a hearing assessment by contacting us today on 08 8267 2555 and make an appointment.