- In this video, I'm talking
about three huge mistakes that individuals make
when buying hearing aids and what you can do to avoid them. Coming up. (upbeat music) Hi guys! Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona, and on this channel I cover a bunch of
hearing-related information to help make you a
better informed consumer. So if you're into that, make sure you hit that subscribe button. And don't forget to click the bell to receive a notification
every time I post a new video. Deciding to treat your
hearing loss is a big decision that can dramatically
improve your quality of life by improving how well you can communicate with family and friends, and by potentially mitigating
the associated risks of untreated hearing
loss, that can include social isolation, depression
and even cognitive decline. But every year thousands of individuals purchase hearing aids
thinking that they're making a great decision, only to
end up having subpar results and wasting a lot of time
and money in the process. And this is largely due to
a combination of mistakes that individuals make when
purchasing hearing aids, and the first huge mistake
is trusting online reviews. Now, we all love hearing
aid reviews, right? I mean, you can find a review on anything. You go on Amazon and every
single product on Amazon has outstanding reviews. And then you have local reviews to your favorite local restaurant, and even your local hearing clinic. But lately, I've started to
trust these online reviews about as much as I trust
that Nigerian prince who keeps emailing me telling
me that I am the beneficiary of a $10 million life insurance claim and all I have to do is send him $5000 for him to get me the 10 million. Why do I not trust online reviews anymore? Because they can be purchased and the whole entire review
process can be manipulated. Experts estimate that a large
portion of online reviews are actually fake. At least on Amazon you can use a software plug-in like Fakespot to see if the reviews on that
particular product are real. That is something that you
cannot do with service reviews or hearing aid reviews. Even on my clinic's Google listing, I have some fake reviews. And we're talking fake
reviews on the bad side, and we're also talking fake
reviews on the good side from people that I have
never even seen in my clinic. This means that if you're
using online reviews to determine where you should go or what hearing aids you should buy, you could be making a huge mistake. Mistake number two is
asking the wrong questions. Everyone is in search
of the best hearing aid or the best price on hearing aids. Neither one of these
questions is gonna get you what you really want. First of all, the best
hearing aid for one person isn't necessarily the best
hearing aid for another person. Not to mention, if that
best hearing aid hasn't been fit and programmed by a
hearing care professional who follows best practices, it doesn't matter how
great that hearing aid is, because you're probably not gonna get all of the benefit out of it anyway. Second of all, the hearing
aid with the best price doesn't necessarily mean
that it's the best deal. Cost usually, not always, has a lot to do with the quality of care
that you will receive at that particular clinic. A clinic that is willing
to sell you a hearing aid at a significantly lower
cost than another clinic, is usually a sign that
that clinic is also going to cut corners and reduce
your quality of care, ultimately leading you down a path of reduced hearing aid performance, even if you have amazing
hearing aid technology. Mistake number three is going to a clinic that only offers one brand of hearing aid. There is no one single brand
of hearing aid that is perfect for every single individual on the planet who has hearing loss. So when you go into one of these clinics that only offers one brand, hm, I wonder what brand
you're gonna walk out with. That's right, whichever
one it is that they sell. And let me guess, they're
probably gonna say that they sell that one brand
because it's the best. It's not necessarily meaning
that it's a bad hearing aid, but it's probably not the
perfect hearing aid for you. And going to a single-brand
hearing aid clinic dramatically increases the likelihood that those hearing aids will be locked, meaning you can't take
them to a different clinic if you end up moving, or
if you end up not liking the hearing care professional
that you're working with. Okay, so how do you avoid
these three major mistakes? Well it's actually really simple. The first thing that you need to do is call a particular clinic that you think that you would want to go to, and ask them if they
offer more than one brand. If they don't offer more than one brand, you move on and you call the next clinic. The next question that
you ask them if they say yes, we offer more than one brand, is do you lock your hearing aids? If they lock their hearing aids,
I would not recommend going to that particular clinic. Second, you can avoid
relying on online reviews if you simply ask the right questions. Asking a clinic if they
follow Best Practices is the single most important question that you could ever ask. Unfortunately, most clinics
don't follow best practices to optimize your hearing aid performance. There are a lot of Best Practices
in the hearing industry, but to make it a little
bit easier for you, I went ahead and created
a series of checklists that you can use to verify if your hearing care professional is
actually doing them or not. And I will have these checklists linked in the description of this video. Best Practices are a series of procedures that ensure you receive: an accurate and comprehensive
hearing evaluation; a hearing aid recommendation
based on your individual needs, not the needs of the clinic, hearing aid quality control, by verifying hearing aid diagnostics, a
proper fitting and programming of those devices to include
real ear measurement, and consistent follow-up
care as time goes on, to ensure you maintain a high
level of hearing performance. If you're still having difficulty finding a hearing care professional near you, make sure that you check out
my website DrCliffAuD.com, because I have a list of
hearing care professionals who are committed to
following these best practices and acting in your best interest. Overall, buying hearing aids
doesn't have to be complicated. So if you can avoid these
three major mistakes, then you are going to be well on your way to hearing success. That's it for this video. If you have any questions, leave them in the comment section below. If you like the video, please share it. If you want to see other
videos just like this one, go ahead and hit that subscribe button. I'll see you next time. (electronic music) Hi guys! Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona, and I cover a bunch of
hearing-related information to help make you a
better informed consumer. So if you're into that, make sure you follow my Facebook page. That's it for this video. If you liked it, please share it, and if you wanna see other
videos just like this one, go ahead and follow my Facebook page. I'll see you next time!
