Hearing loss is not just an elderly affliction. Individuals of every age suffer from hearing loss due to birth defects, a disability, a related condition, an injury, and age. However, if you require a digital hearing aid to increase your quality of life, it can be very expensive. Hearing loss treatment is shown to drastically improve the lives of individuals with severe cognitive issues and hearing loss, a life that could otherwise be very isolating.
Consider these 4 aspects when seeking out hearing loss tests, hearing loss treatments, and when purchasing a digital hearing aid:

Due diligence
First and foremost, if you’re in need of hearing loss therapies, check with your health insurance provider to see if things like hearing loss tests and hearing aids are covered under your insurance plans. Contact your insurance company to explore your options.

Hearing loss tests and exams
In the U.S. doctors or hearing, audiologists will most often recommend a physical exam to test your hearing loss, in which your physician examines each ear for possible hearing loss (i.e., infection, earwax, inflammation, or structural damage). Further general screening for hearing impairment may include sound tests, tuning fork tests to detect hearing loss in the middle ear (eardrum) and nerves in the inner ear, as well as audiometer tests, which employs a hearing test using earphones and a range of sounds and various tones to test hearing in all parts of the ear.

Research digital hearing aids
Ongoing advancements in the hearing aid technology can make it difficult to choose a digital hearing aid. Look for hearing aid companies that offer digital hearing aids and accessories (i.e., neck loops) at affordable prices. However, cost shouldn’t be your only concern. To improve your quality of life, seek out hearing aid with these key features:

Custom programmable digital hearing aids have sound processor built right into the device to offer personalized calibration to suit your level of hearing.

• Automatic gain control offers the ability to moderate sounds (i.e., high vs. low decibel sounds) using filtration.
  Amplification should be able to be fine-tuned to amplify the signal to the ear canal.
• Feedback management systems lessen loops of annoying buzzing and whistling feedback using algorithms without affecting the overall amplification of the hearing device.
• Telecoil phone connection using electromagnetic signals from compatible telephones or looped rooms and improves signal to noise ratio while eliminating feedback.
• Noise reduction systems offer more comfortable listening thanks to analyzation capabilities that determine unwanted noise and reduce it automatically to your comfort.
• Speech intelligibility focuses in on speech over background sounds (i.e., fans, motors)
• Directional processing gives users the ability to filter out distractions in the background while focusing sounds in the foreground.

Give it time and patience
Many individuals with hearing impairments think a hearing aid will fully restore their hearing and are often disappointed in the results. A quality hearing aid will take time to adjust to as far as fit and level of hearing.