{"id":5534,"date":"2021-12-03T00:25:39","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T00:25:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/?p=5534"},"modified":"2021-12-07T00:27:29","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T00:27:29","slug":"what-to-know-before-buying-a-hearing-aid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/what-to-know-before-buying-a-hearing-aid\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Know Before Buying a Hearing Aid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In this day and age, you can purchase just about anything online and expect it to show up on your doorstep two days later. But as much as you may want to place an order for a hearing aid at <a href=\"https:\/\/b8ta.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">b8ta<\/a>, that\u2019s not how it works. <a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/hearing\/hearing-loss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hearing loss<\/a> is a medical condition that requires treatment from a medical professional known as an audiologist.<\/p>\n<p>Below we review everything you need to know before buying a hearing aid.<\/p>\n<h2>First, You Need a Hearing Test<img decoding=\"async\" title=\"Close up of a doctor checking the ear of his male patient\" src=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/ear-exam-hearing-health-768x512.jpg\" alt=\"Close up of a male doctor carefully holding the ear of his patient to establish a clearer view of the inside of his ear, to see if he requires hearing aids at a modern clinic\" width=\"236\" height=\"157\" class=\"alignright wp-image-5536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/ear-exam-hearing-health-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/ear-exam-hearing-health-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/ear-exam-hearing-health-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/ear-exam-hearing-health-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>You may think you can take a hearing test online, too, but a real, legitimate hearing test is conducted in an audiologist\u2019s office. That\u2019s not to say online hearing tests aren\u2019t useful \u2013 they can help you detect whether a hearing loss is present \u2013 but they cannot provide the same information a hearing test conducted by an audiologist can.<\/p>\n<p>Types of hearing tests an audiologist may conduct include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pure tone audiometry<\/li>\n<li>Bone conduction testing<\/li>\n<li>Speech-in-noise testing<\/li>\n<li>Acoustic reflex testing<\/li>\n<li>Auditory brainstem response (ABR)<\/li>\n<li>Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These hearing tests reveal exactly how loud sounds have to be in order for you to hear them across all speech frequencies. The results of these tests are then plotted on an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asha.org\/public\/hearing\/Audiogram\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">audiogram<\/a>, which is a visual representation of your hearing loss.<\/p>\n<h2>Next, Your Audiologist Will Help You Pick a Hearing Aid<\/h2>\n<p>When helping you <a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/hearing\/hearing-aids\/choosing-a-hearing-aid\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pick a style of hearing aid<\/a>, your audiologist will take into account your type and degree of hearing loss, the anatomy of your ear, your lifestyle needs and your budget. Popular styles include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids<\/li>\n<li>Receiver-in-canal (RIC) hearing aids<\/li>\n<li>Receiver-in-the-ear (RITE) hearing aids<\/li>\n<li>In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids<\/li>\n<li>In-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids<\/li>\n<li>Invisible-in-the-canal (IIC) hearing aids<\/li>\n<li>Completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids<\/li>\n<li>Open-fit hearing aids<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They\u2019ll also talk to you about what features you\u2019d like your hearing aid to have. Popular features in today\u2019s devices include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Bluetooth connectivity<\/li>\n<li>Smartphone compatibility<\/li>\n<li>Background noise filtering<\/li>\n<li>Automatic programming<\/li>\n<li>Machine learning<\/li>\n<li>And more!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Finally, You\u2019ll Discuss Financing Options<\/h2>\n<p>Some insurance carriers cover the cost of hearing aids; unfortunately, many do not. Your audiologist can discuss a leasing programming or financing options to make hearing aids affordable for you.<\/p>\n<p>For more information or to schedule an appointment, call San Francisco Audiology today.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"related-posts\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/signs-your-hearing-aids-need-adjusting\/\" class=\"related-post\">Signs Your Hearing Aids Need Adjusting<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/myths-vs-facts-dispelling-common-misconceptions-about-hearing-aids\/\" class=\"related-post\">Myths vs. Facts: Dispelling Common Misconceptions About Hearing Aids<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/is-your-hearing-aid-functioning-improperly-and-what-to-do-if-not\/\" class=\"related-post\">Is Your Hearing Aid Functioning Improperly (And What to Do If Not)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this day and age, you can purchase just about anything online and expect it to show up on your doorstep two days later. But as much as you may want to place an order for a hearing aid at b8ta, that\u2019s not how it works. Hearing loss is a medical condition that requires treatment&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5536,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"In this day and age, you can purchase just about anything online and expect it to show up on your doorstep two days later.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","locid":"","rating":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5534"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5534"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5537,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5534\/revisions\/5537"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfaudiology.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}