- In This Article
- Nonprescription hearing aids
- Hearing-aid features
- Lab tests of features
- Select a provider
- Understand the product
- Get a thorough evaluation
- Be a smart buyer
- Practice and follow up
- Which type is best for you?
- A shopping summary
- Paying for your hearing aid
- Hearing-loss information
- Buying tips: A checklist
- Quiz: Do you need a hearing aid?
Get a thorough evaluation
A hearing-aid provider is only as good as her evaluations—how she determines your hearing loss and verifies that the prescribed aids work.
During your first visit, the provider will establish your hearing-loss profile with audiometry testing. You'll sit in a soundproof booth and indicate whether you can hear individual words piped into your headphone, as well as tones played at various pitches and volumes. A graph, called an audiogram, displays which parts of the sound spectrum you're having difficulty hearing so that the provider can calibrate your aid properly.
A good evaluation includes several other hearing tests, too; you might be asked to listen to speech while a noisy recording plays. You might be asked to repeat words the tester says, with and without being able to see her lips move. You might answer questions about how your hearing difficulty affects your everyday life.
You should also discuss your needs and lifestyle. Do you like to chat on the phone? Does your social life involve a lot of large gatherings or restaurant meals? One lesson from our shoppers: Don't count on the provider to ask those questions.
The provider should then show you a few models and ask you to choose. If your chosen style includes an earmold, she'll make an impression of your ear canal. You might have to pay a deposit.
When you return to pick up your aids, usually in a week or two, the provider should do several hearing tests to verify that they are working optimally. Of that battery of tests, one stands out as a must-have: the real-ear test, which measures the match between your hearing loss and the response of your hearing aid. "There is evidence that you get a better fitting with a real-ear test and people are more satisfied," says Todd Ricketts, Ph.D., associate professor of hearing and speech sciences at Vanderbilt University.
More than half of hearing-aid providers have real-ear testing equipment, but less than a quarter use it regularly, according to 2006 data from the Hearing Review, an industry publication. So make sure in advance that your provider will use it to verify your hearing aid's fit.
