Some long-term users of hearing aids ask me, "Is it ok to switch from one brand of hearing aid to another? Would switching from a hearing aid brand to another impact my speech understanding negatively?". Perhaps 50% or more of audiologists might vote to stay with the same brand. Read through this article to learn about your options.
In my experience, it is not a life sentence. If you are unhappy with a specific brand of hearing aid which you used for several years you are free to switch to another brand. But, you need to consider a few points.
Why should I consider switching to another hearing aid brand?
There are several reasons that one may decide to switch to a different brand of hearing aids, some of those reasons are:
Technology advancement - Over the past 3 to 5 years some hearing aid companies have invested more in research and development hence some have been able to release more advanced hearing aids compared to the others. If you are in the market to purchase a new hearing aid because you lost yours, or they are broken and out of warranty then you may sit back and revisit which brand can offer the best product and service for your next investment in a pair of new hearing aid. To me, this is a smart move.
Your lifestyle has changed - You may have got a new job as a sales manager attending a lot of exhibitions and you need the best hearing aids for speech in noise. Another person may have been using IIC hearing aids with no Bluetooth, but now needs to connect his hearing aids directly to the computer and conduct Zoom meetings as part of his new job. Your line of work may have changed and now you need a pair of in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids because the new job demands more physical activity and behind-the-ear is not suitable for you anymore.
Your needs have changed - You used to wear invisible IIC hearing aids but your hearing loss has been dropping to the stage that you need stronger RIC hearing aids so you need a pair of new hearing aids.
You lost both your hearing aids - This is very straightforward, you lost your hearing aids and now you are in the market for new ones, why not survey the market to see who offers the best product for your type of lifestyle?
What should I consider before switching to a different hearing aid brand?
Sound processing - Each hearing aid manufacturer uses a different sound processing philosophy and algorithms. Our brain is smart to kind of adjust to the sound cues and timbre of a specific device. These are the details that an experienced audiologist can tweak in the fitting software of the manufacturer to help you with speech intelligibility. And over time your brain tunes in to that. Switching from brand A hearing aid to B might put you at another learning curve for your brain to get accustomed to the new sound quality. This is not necessarily bad news. Brand B in this example may have better sound processing hence providing you with more speech intelligibility. This is the single most important reason that your audiologist might suggest you stay with the same brand of hearing aids which makes perfect sense.
Fitting - There is a good chance that the fitting of the hearing aids stay the same when you switch from brand A to B. By fitting I mean if your old hearing aids were fitted with closed domes there is a good chance that the new ones will also be fitted with closed domes, but not always. The fitting software of the new aids may suggest a different fitting strategy. Based on his/her experience, your audiologist may also decide to change the fitting of the new aids which will have an impact on your overall hearing experience.
Hearing care professional - If you switch your audiologist to try a new pair of hearing aids from a different brand then again the experience of the new audiologist will be a key factor in your hearing experience with the new hearing aids. It is understated how much the skill and experience of the audiologist play in the overall sound quality and speech understanding of the user. Often it is not only the factor of the hearing aid but the hearing aid and the audiologist combined. Make sure you do REM when you buy your new ones, best of luck.
Trial period - If you wish to switch to another brand of hearing aid my advice is to be patient. Use all the trial period you can to try the new hearing aid and see if you have a better hearing and speech understanding versus the old ones or other models that you trialled.
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