5 Hearing Aid Myths & The Facts | Trial Periods, Online Hearing Aids, Costco Hearing Aids

I spend a lot of time correcting misconceptions that people have about hearing aids.  These misconceptions often come from marketing tactics inside of the hearing industry itself, but spread by consumers who don't know any better.  So I decided to set the record straight and dispel 5 of the most common myths that I hear about hearing aids.

MYTH #1. A Hearing Aid Trial period is necessary to determine if you will receive benefit from hearing aids.  The FACT is that if a hearing care provider follows Best Practices, they should already know how much benefit you stand to receive from hearing aids.  Determining your prognosis for success should not be a guessing game.  In fact, trial periods can be dangerous.  Most clinics that set you up with trial hearing aids do not follow Best Practices when programming them.  This means that you may not receive as much benefit as expected, prompting you to decline continuing with treatment.  If you want to learn more about Best Practices, check out my video here: https://youtu.be/4F1pkDhb8ys

‍MYTH #2. The more money you spend on hearing aids, the more benefit you will receive.  The FACT is, even the most expensive hearing aid in the world will not perform well if it hasn't been programmed properly by your hearing care professional.  I see 10-15 patients a month who come into my clinic with expensive premium hearing aids from other clinics or that were purchased online, and they still don't work worth a darn.  If your hearing care professional doesn't follow Best Practices like Real Ear Measurement when fitting hearing aids, then it doesn't matter how expensive your devices are.  So, if you have the option between an Expensive hearing aid and an Inexpensive hearing aid, pick the one that will be programmed by a hearing care professional who follows Best Practices.

MYTH #3. German hearing aids are the best.  The FACT is, just because an advertisement says that German technology is more advanced than any other technology doesn't make it true.  Many other hearing aid companies manufacturer products as good or better than ones made in Germany.  So don't fall for marketing fluff and educate yourself on the actual differences between hearing technologies, otherwise you could be disappointed.

MYTH #4. All online hearing aids SUCK!  The FACT is, success with hearing aids is all about expectations.  If your expectation is to receive a little bit of a boost from an online product, then your expectations will likely be met, and online hearing devices may be perfect for you. However, do not expect to perform as well with online hearing aids that haven't been programmed to your hearing loss prescription, and that lack basic features.  Just don't be disappointed if they don't work.  Online hearing aids are intended only for mild to moderate hearing losses.  Anything more significant than this, and you will likely  need a hearing aid fit by a professional.

MYTH #5. Costco hearing aids aren't as good as hearing aids purchased in a Hearing Clinic.  The FACT is, Costco sells hearing aids from the same reputable companies that are in Hearing Clinics.  Sure, some features have been disabled, but for the most part, they are very similar.  However, the thing that you should be looking for is how good the hearing care provider is who will be fitting your hearing aids.  Just like any clinic, a great set of hearing aids from Costco can work GREAT or HORRIBLE depending on how good the Hearing Care Provider is that fits them to you.  Just because Costco devices are cheap, it doesn't mean that they aren't good.