There is no best hearing aid, only the one that is best for you
Every now and again a patient asks me which hearing aid is the best one, and the honest answer is that there isn't a best hearing aid, only the one that is best for you. There are excellent hearing aids on the market, and the question that actually matters is which of them suits you.
You will sometimes see a claim that a particular product has been researched, tested or identified as the best one available. I do not think hearing aids work that way, for reasons that are worth setting out.
Brands really are different
There are several major manufacturers making hearing aids, and each one processes sound in its own way. The differences show up in how the device handles loud and soft sounds, how it treats background noise, how quickly it reacts when you walk into a busy room, and how speech is shaped before it reaches your ear.
Two hearing aids can be programmed to the same audiogram and still sound quite different to the person wearing them. Some people do wonderfully with one brand and cannot get on with another, and there is not always a clear reason why, and it comes down to your ears, your hearing loss and your daily life.
A restricted range narrows the choice
When a clinic works with only one or two manufacturers, the process starts from a much narrower set of options. Instead of asking which hearing aid from across the market suits you best, the question quietly becomes which hearing aid within that range suits you best.
You would not notice this at the time, because the appointment looks like any other and the clinician may well be very good. It only becomes a problem if the device does not suit you, and by then there is nowhere else to go inside that clinic.
Think of it like a suit off the rack, where the standard cut fits some people well enough that they never think twice about it, and hangs badly on everyone else. The suit is not faulty and the shop has done nothing wrong, it is simply that one cut cannot sit properly on every set of shoulders. A clinic working with one or two manufacturers is offering you the cuts it happens to stock, and if you are one of the people those suit, you will do perfectly well. The difficulty is that neither of you knows in advance whether you are.
Best for whom?
Best is not something that sits inside a hearing aid waiting to be measured, and is better understood as a relationship between a device and a person. Your hearing loss, the shape of your ear canals, your hands, your budget and where you do most of your listening, whether that is at home, at work or in a crowded room, all affect the answer.
You can fit the same hearing aid to two people with the same hearing loss, and their experience of it can be completely different. Having a preferred product is a reasonable thing for a clinician, but it is a very different claim from saying that one hearing aid is the best hearing aid for everybody.
Top of the range is not the same as right for you
One assumption worth challenging is that the most expensive hearing aid is the best one for you.
The features separating a premium device from a mid range one are mostly about difficult listening, meaning crowded rooms, competing conversations and restaurants with hard surfaces. Those features are real and can make a meaningful difference, particularly for people who spend a lot of their week in demanding listening environments.
If your week is conversation at home, the television and an hour at the club, you may be paying considerably more for technology that gives you relatively little additional benefit. Working out where you sit on that scale is a clinical judgement, and I would rather make it with you in the room than leave it to a price list.
Choosing the right one is my job, not yours
You do not need to research nine brands yourself, that is my job.
We start by understanding your hearing and what you actually want to hear better, and from there I narrow the options to the hearing aid that fits your hearing, your hands, your budget and your life. If the first one does not suit you we try another, and that door stays open because we are not tied to one supplier.
Because we are independent we work with a broad range of leading manufacturers and every level of technology, from straightforward, well made devices to the most advanced, so there is something to suit most budgets rather than one price for everybody.
What you may be entitled to
Many eligible New Zealand adults can receive a government subsidy of up to $1,022.22 towards a pair of hearing aids, available once every six years, and we handle the paperwork for you. There are other funding pathways as well, including ACC and Veterans' Affairs, and we will tell you what you may qualify for before you commit to anything.
Questions worth asking any clinic
If you are deciding where to go, whether that is here or anywhere else in Hawke's Bay, here are some questions worth putting to whoever you see.
Who owns this clinic?
How many brands can you fit here?
If you only fit one or two brands, how do you know that this one is right for me?
What happens if I do not get on with them?
Who is the clinician I am seeing, and what is their qualification?
A good clinician will be happy to answer these questions without getting defensive about any of them, and if the answers are vague or the conversation moves quickly on to price or a deadline, that tells you something as well.
The first conversation is free
Good hearing is not about getting used to whatever you are given, and good hearing care is not about being sold the best hearing aid on one particular shelf. It is about having a wide choice across manufacturers, and then working out which one is right for you.
If you would like to talk it through, the first conversation costs nothing. We will discuss what you are finding difficult, look at your hearing, and set out what your options are and what any of it would cost, with no obligation to go any further.
