Almost one third of population across the country suffers from hearing impairment at the age 65 to 75. Hearing-aids is a device that picks up sound signals from the atmosphere and feeds it to the ears. If you are planning to buy the same, here is a guide that will help you buy the best hearing aids.
The best hearing-aids should have following technical features:
1. Directional microphone
Look for hearing-aids that have microphones that work as omni directional as well as directional. This way the users can use it in noisy environments as well as when they are close to a sound source.
2. Telecoil
A telecoil is a small sensor in the form of copper wire. This sensor picks up magnetic signals from the hearing-aid compatible telephones and converts them to sound. Ask your hearing-aid provider for hearing-aids that have manual T-switch which enables seamless connection to such telephone systems.
3. Feedback suppression
One of the most important feature of any hearing-aid is the feedback suppression system that quells high-pitched sounds using a digital-feedback system. It minimizes feedback when you are close to the source or when hearing-aid gets dislodged from your ear due to the movement of the jaw. This allows more ventilation and comfort to the ears and also helps them hearing low pitched sounds.
4. Noise reduction (DNR)
Some of the latest hearing-aids provide feedback suppression as well as digital noise reduction. This feature helps in reducing the background noise with the help of better waveform filtration. This helps in better understanding of speech in all types of environments.
Look for other features such as:
- Some of the best hearing-aids have low battery indicator sounds, wax guards that prevent wax build up, and automatic volume control.
- look for features such as data logging and memory logger for listening preferences.
- An hearing-aid with direct audio-input allows user to directly connect to to devices such as television and other electronic devices.
- Some of the higher end hearing-aids help the users connect to various peripherals directly. do not forget to check the battery capacity of such hearing-aids as they consume maximum percentage of the battery.