The Latest Hearing Aid Technology

In recent years there have been a number of much publicised ‘breakthroughs’ in hearing aid technology; waterproofing, Bluetooth connectivity, wireless communication and implants deep into the ear canal to name but a few. It is interesting to note, however, that very few of these breakthroughs seem to deal with the central issues of hearing aid functionality. In fact, I can’t remember any customer asking me for a hearing aid that connects to their computer, a hearing aid they can go swimming with, or a hearing aid that sends wireless transmission through their head to its partner on the other side. What I can remember very clearly, are many customers asking for improved speech understanding in background noise, to be able to hear and understand what’s being said on television (in particular when watching feature films with loud sound tracks and quiet dialogue) and that this be provided at a price that is not akin to replacing a family car. For this reason that we do not provide Bluetooth, Wireless or waterproof hearing aids. This functionality comes at significant cost as hearing aid manufacturers try to recover some of the large R&D expense required to develop this technology. We find it very difficult to argue the case for this additional cost in light of the attained hearing benefit provided by this technology. In many instances this technology is sold to individuals that discover they rarely if ever use it and by the time this becomes apparent, they are unable to return the hearing aid (and where they can, an administration or re-stocking charge similar to the price of our hearing aids is levied!). We call it the ‘Ferrari to pick up the shopping’.

Let me be clear, we are firm believers in the development of hearing aid technology (as we are all from a hearing aid development background) but only where this technology is applied to improving hearing benefit. Too much time and money is spent on ‘window dressing’ to enable justification of high prices and to enable sales teams to differentiate one hearing aid from another and the user benefit is somehow lost in translation. You will constantly see new additions to and or replacements of our hearing aid range but only when we are convinced that the benefits to the customer make those changes worthwhile. If you are unsure about any hearing aid technology that has been explained (dare I say ‘sold’) to you, then please feel free to speak with Max our registered audiologist, for some plain talking and independent advice.