Why Hearing Aids Are Not the Same as Glasses

As we begin to grow older, our bodies begin to show signs of wear and tear. From vision to hearing, the older we get, the more prone we are to losing the very senses we take for granted.

Here at the Hearing Associates of Las Vegas, we have spent years studying the causes and effects of hearing loss. While there are many causes of hearing loss, hearing aids remain the most used and effective option for handling hearing loss. Many people like to compare hearing aids and glasses because of the noticeable improvement these tools make to their respective senses. However, the two are very different in many ways.

In this article, we will break down the chief differences between hearing aids and glasses, explaining exactly what makes them so different.

Levels of Improvement

With glasses, the goal is to restore the wearer to 20/20 vision. With hearing aids, the goal is simply to improve your hearing as much as possible. Hearing aids may make it much easier for a person to hear, but they will not restore someone’s hearing completely.

The reason for this lies in the method of how both of these tools work to heighten the sensory information that is being transferred to the brain. Glasses work to correct the light streaming into your eyes before it enters your eyes. By correcting the light in this way, glasses mold what you see into a personalized array that is most compatible with your eyes.

However, in a person with hearing loss, the ears always receive sound correctly, but some blockage or damage to the inner structures of your ear prevents the sound from being completely read by your brain. While glasses bend the light to make it readable and in-focus for the wearer, hearing aids simply amplify a sound to make it easier to hear.

Cost of Hearing Aids Over Glasses

One huge difference between glasses and hearing aids is the difference in cost between the two. While you can buy a pair of reading glasses over-the-counter for $3 or a prescription for around $100-$200, hearing aids can cost as much as $4,000-$5,000.

The main reason for this cost is due to the amount of research and development that goes into producing hearing aids as well as the highly calibrated microphones and chips within them. Also, when you buy a hearing aid, you aren’t just paying for the technology. You are also paying for services from highly-trained hearing specialists during the span of their life such as those provide by Hearing Associates of Las Vegas.

Upkeep & Maintenance of Hearing Aids

Another general difference between hearing aids and glasses is the difference in upkeep. Glasses are generally easier to care for. Usually, you may only need a case and a cleaning cloth to take care of your glasses. Doctors also recommend a yearly vision appointment, as your prescription may change based on time.

Hearing aids, on the other hand, require more attention and care. Wax buildup in these devices can prevent them from functioning, so they need to be cleaned constantly. Also, hearing aids require tune-ups from your hearing professional in order to make sure that your hearing aids are serving you the best way possible. Thankfully, some of these services can be done remotely thanks to the advancement in technology the past few years.

Hearing Aid Stigma

To many people, it is apparent that glasses are more readily accepted than hearing aids. The diverse array of “fashion lenses” available make glasses somewhat of a fashion statement while hearing aids are commonly referred to just as a hearing accessory. In fact, many hearing aids are even designed to be inserted within the ear such as hearing aids designed to be inserted in the canal and not behind the ear or completely hidden such as the Lyric Extended-Wear Hearing Aid.

A common theory for this disparity is the larger usage of glasses than hearing aids. While only 20 percent of Americans suffer from hearing loss, nearly 70 percent wear corrective lenses of some kind. The more people that end up wearing hearing aids, the more likely they will come to be commonly accepted.

For hearing aids in Las Vegas, please contact us at the Hearing Associates of Las Vegas for more information or to schedule an appointment. Taking those first steps to correcting your hearing can make a world of a difference that we hope no one stalls on taking.