About Hearing Aids
What you need to know about hearing aids.
If you are among the growing number of baby boomers with hearing loss, you realize that you need a hearing aid. With so many brands and styles of hearing aids available, how can you make the best choice? Here is the information you need to make an informed decision.
What a hearing aid does: A hearing aid reproduces sound in a predetermined range to restore your hearing to normal, or near normal levels.
This capability has improved recently due to the development of 100% digital hearing aids. An easy-to-understand comparison between this new digital technology and the older analog technology is the difference between taped music, which is analog, and music on a CD. Anyone who has compared taped music to music recorded on a CD knows that digital sound reproduction is much better.
Listening Devices
You might have seen advertisements for inexpensive hearing devices priced from as little as $35. These devices are similar to hearing aids, but do not adhere to FDA standards and are therefore labeled as "listening devices."
Analog Hearing Aids: Until the introduction of digital technology, analog was the only type of hearing aid available. Although there have been advances in analog hearing aids, they still offer limited sound control and are less effective than digital hearing aids in addressing the complexities of hearing loss.
Digital Hearing Aids: Be aware that many analog hearing aids are advertised as digital or "digital programmable" simply because they are programmed using a computer. They are not fully digital hearing aids. They are analog. Although inaccurate, legally these aids can be advertised as digital, so it is most important for consumers to carefully read and understand what they are buying. Only if the product packaging states "100% digital," is the hearing aid truly manufactured with the latest technology.
To be labeled 100% digital, all of a hearing aid’s computer chip components must be digital. 100% digital hearing aids provide the best reproduction of sound and the most precise correction for your hearng loss.
All HearPods are 100% digital hearing aids and made in the U.S. by an FDA-approved labatory. We adhere to the highest quality standards.
Hearing devices come in the following styles:
This "full size" hearing aid fits inside the ear, but because they completely fill the ear cavity, they are noticeable and are not as cosmetically pleasing.
These hearing aids fit inside the ear canal, are less noticeable and more cosmetically pleasing. Because of this, HearPod 100% digital hearing aids are available in three in-the-canal digital hearing aid styles: The Canal, Mini-Canal and CIC.
These hearing aids are the smallest available and fit almost invisibly inside the ear canal. Consequently, they are the most cosmetically pleasing.
