This is one of the most frequently asked questions we receive. In fact, if I had to guess, we answer this one multiple times per week, every week.
The answer also happens to be another of those “long-winded, it depends” kind of answers. Oh, how we love these!
At the outset of this conversation, the first thing we always state is that the perfect hearing aid does not exist. There is no one “best” option. Most decisions that are made, particularly as it relates to hearing aid style, have a series of pros and cons.
What speaks to or motivates one person might be the exact opposite for another person. Additionally, what “best” means is relative. Are we talking about the most invisible? Cheapest? Reliability/durability?
So that we’re all on the same page, we will be answering this question from the standpoint of what will lead to the best hearing outcomes or how well the hearing aid addresses the hearing challenges you’re faced with.
Below is how Visalia Hearing Center answers this question.
1. The best hearing aids for you are hearing aids that you’ll actually wear. If they’re not in your ears, they’re not doing you, or anyone else, any good. This falls into 2 categories: Cosmetics & Comfort.
- a. We know that substance really should be more important than style. The reality is both matter; we can promise you that if you don’t like the way your hearing technology looks, you won’t wear it. Even if that hearing aid removed every single hearing challenge from your life with 100% precision, you still wouldn’t wear it. You don’t need to “love” the way your hearing aids look, but you can’t be repulsed by them either.
- b. The same goes for physical comfort. If the hearing aid is causing physical pain, you can’t wear it, nor should you. If this occurs, immediately tell your Audiologist so modifications can be made.
2. The best hearing aids for you are also ones that are personalized to your unique auditory system. This has virtually nothing to do with the brand of the hearing aid as it’s all about the person who is programming, personalizing, and fitting the hearing aid to you.
An entire blog post would be needed to describe in detail how hearing aids are correctly personalized. The technology should be Audiologically appropriate (correct gain matrix, coupling, able to be managed by the patient) and there should be an objective measure (e.g. real ear verification) for you to visually see your before and after results.
Suffice to say, if the person fitting your hearing aid takes the hearing aid out of the box, connects them to the computer, places it on your ears and asks, “how does that sound?” and that’s it, something is wrong.
How does that approach differ from an OTC device? What is that person actually contributing to your outcome? I would argue nothing at all. This approach should be a hard pass.
3. Premium hearing technology (1st tier) are hands down the best hearing aids. All leading manufacturers’ premium offerings (Oticon, Phonak, ReSound, Signia, Starkey, Widex) are head and shoulders better than their second-tier offerings.
There are no second-tier hearing aids that are better than another manufacturer’s premium offering. There’s nothing wrong with 2nd (Advanced), 3rd (Smart) or even 4th (Essential) tier hearing aids, they’re just not as good as the 1st (Premium) tier. However, there are a few exceptions to the above statement.
- a. Any hearing aids that are non-wireless devices (no Bluetooth, NFMI, etc.), such as all invisible-in-canal (IIC) style devices and some completely-in-canal (CIC) style devices are in a different category. Without getting too much into the weeds, you want your hearing aids to communicate with each other to coordinate the amplification/signal processing to your brain. This is not a connectivity to an App feature; it has to do with the base level processing strategy of the hearing aids. When the right hand/ear doesn’t know what the left hand/ear is doing, that’s a problem. Small hearing aids don’t have the room to house these important features. Again, these styles aren’t bad, but there is a compromise to hearing benefit that comes with these styles compared to other daily worn hearing aid options.
- b. The Lyric Hearing System. Again, this is an entire blog post on its own, but the Lyric Hearing System is a category of one. For the right person, the Lyric is absolutely the best option.
4. Prescriptive hearing aids are better than over-the-counter hearing (OTC) aids. There is definitely a time and place for OTC hearing technology, and for certain patients, an OTC device is exactly where they should start. However, if the litmus test is what technology will deliver the highest quality results, it is hands down prescriptive devices.
5. For all of the above points, I bet I would get > 95% agreement rate from the profession/industry.
This final point is a little more controversial, but I will be firmly planting Visalia Hearing Center’s flag and say: the brands of hearing technology you get from a private clinic-medical/doctor’s office setting (for example, Oticon, Resound, Signia, the “flagship brands”) tend to be newer technology and include more features than the brands you get from a big box retail sales store (for example Jabra, Phillips, Rexton, the “non-flagship brands”).
Oticon and Phillips are both owned by Demant A/S. ReSound and Jabra are both owned by GN Corporation. Signia and Rexton are both owned by WS Audiology.
Again, the brands in the big box stores aren’t bad. They are comparable, but they are not the same. If the technology is older and there are less features available, it is, by definition, not as good. Therefore, the best hearing aids will be the flagship brands that are available in the private clinic-medical or doctor’s office settings.
What you will notice is that our criteria for best hearing aids have nothing to do with your hearing/hearing loss*. It also certainly has NOTHING to do with your “lifestyle.”
In our opinion, if your hearing center is basing their “best” recommendations for you off your hearing test and lifestyle, they’re greatly missing the boat.
I will even go out on a limb and say if the person you’re working with is using the “your hearing loss & lifestyle” as criteria for your “best” hearing aids, they’re stuck in 2005 and need to move quickly to the present.
Additionally, we don’t feel one brand is significantly better than another brand. If fact, Visalia Hearing Center has happy patients in all 6 of the leading manufacturers, because we know how to apply and personalize hearing technology to each individual. Personalization, again, is a key ingredient to the secret sauce.
Finally, if you’ve read this so far, we thank you. We will end this with a short summary. The best hearing aids are prescriptive, premium (1st tier) hearing aids from a flagship brand that is personalized to the patient and you’re comfortable wearing.
If you find the right professional to work with, it will be their job to walk you through this process and help you choose the best device for you.
* There are some hearing losses where the actual hearing loss is a key driver of what’s best for that patient. These include, but are not limited to, severe to profound/corner audiograms or single-sided deafness. These hearing losses represent a very small percentage of individuals with hearing loss but if those conditions are present, they are a major factor in making the right decision.
