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Mail Order Hearing Aids: Really?!?

Why Shouldn't I Get Mail Order Hearing Aids? Maybe I Could Save Some Money That Way.


As stated before, the famous writer John Ruskin once wrote: "There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey."


Hearing aids are complex medical devices that have to be made to match the necessary prescription and ear shape of the individual hearing aid wearer. Buying cheap generic hearing devices or even real hearing aids from a company that may have them in 'bulk', with the pretense of 'one-size-fits-most', who then resells them one piece at a time, will not work. It may make you happy at first that everything sounds louder, but any general amplifier can do that. What people fail to realize is that in order to hear well you need clarity. And clarity can only be achieved by making a hearing aid that matches the prescription and earshape of the wearer. If you gave your neighbor, or your brother, or your friend your glasses, they probably will say "how can you see out of these things." That's because the glasses are made to match your presecription, and yours only. When dealing with a mail order or internet sales company, you may find that they have you choose the hearing device by the description "if you have to ask people to repeat themselves, choose this one", or by the description "if telephone conversations are sometimes difficult, choose this one", or by the description "if you cannot use the telephone without amplification, choose this one". These are three actual descriptions that one mail order company uses for people to assess for themselves which hearing device to order.

Even if they claim that it is model xx123 from company Xyz, there are many different assessments and tests to determine what the prescription for a particular person's hearing aids should be, what components should be put into the hearing aids, and which type of hearing aids that person should even be allowed to consider (generally, hearing aid size is comparable to eyeglass lens thickness). Even after your hearing aids are made according to your individual prescription, you will still need to come back for fine-tunings based on your personal perception of the sounds around you in your everyday life. Two people with similar (even identical, if that's possible) prescriptions will have a different perception of what levels of various sounds they like and dislike, or what sounds they are bothered by or what sounds they would like to hear more of. This is where the fine-tuning comes in. Faxing an audiogram to a mail order business for them to choose which one of their 'stock' hearing aids you are least likely to send back to them is not the way to go. And letting them talk you into having them 'progam' your hearing aids before they send them to you in the mail will only cause you problems as well, regardless of what they may tell you.

In fact, many states have laws FORBIDDING the mail order or online sales of hearing aids. Other states have not caught up with the possibility that a poorly selected hearing aid can have dangerous implications. Some hearing aid laboratories even warn people about not 'purchasing' their hearing aids from mail order or online 'dealers' who may have gotten their hands on some of their hearing aids. This is not to 'protect the distribution chain', as some of these mail order companies may claim, but rather it is to protect themselves from lawsuits. Knowing that the problem is too big to tackle and also that the temptation of individuals to save some money is impossible to control, the State of California has passed a law forbidding California hearing care providers from even giving advice, selecting, fitting, or adjusting any hearing aids sold over the mail or internet. New York State also has a law forbidding New York hearing care providers from 'selling' hearing aids to anyone within New York State through the mail or online (it can't regulate what happens in other states). This is because it is impossible to properly fit hearing aids, both in physical fit and in acousitc fit, without the individual being present. The dangers of an improperly fit hearing aid are, amongst other things, increased hearing loss because certain frequencies may be too loud (if only certain frequencies are too loud it may not be apparent to the user, but still may cause damage), some frequencies not being strong enough and not allowing the necessary frequencies to complete the prescription, some frequencies being too strong making some sounds too harsh or limiting understanding when certain sounds are present, improper physical fit in the ear canal which may cause soreness, swelling, abrasions, even a ruptured eardrum. It also gives the individual the false and unfortunate sense of "I tried hearing aids and they did not work for me, so I'll just have to live the way I am."

To anyone still doubting what is written on this page: This is why we have this page instead of having a catalog where anyone nationwide can put in their credit card number and purchase "something that will hopefully meet the buyer's expectations". Because the hearing aids will not work properly for the individual without the hearing care provider working face to face with that individual. It would be great if we could get generalized dentures or braces for our kids through the mail, wouldn't it? Think of the money we would save. Surely somebody would try to save some money and order them through a state that still allows that. However, these too, would not meet the proper requirements nor professional expectations, and they will at best not work, or at worst do harm to the individual.