Should I Get An Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid?

Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids are a new type of hearing aid that people can buy without going to an audiologist first. These devices are meant to help adults who think they are losing their hearing in a mild to moderate way. Like hearing aids you get from a hearing health provider, over-the-counter hearing aids make sounds louder so that adults who have trouble hearing can better listen, talk and take part in daily activities. Also, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates over-the-counter hearing aids as medical devices (FDA).

Hearing aids that can be bought without a prescription are an alternative to hearing aids that can only be bought from professionals. The hearing health professional fits you for the hearing aid, programs the settings to your hearing loss and gives you other services like future adjustments, maintenance and cleaning.

As of mid-October 2022, you can buy hearing aids without a prescription in stores and online, where prescription hearing aids are not sold. You put them on yourself, and have to adjust the sound levels on your own.

Adults who think they have mild-to-moderate hearing loss can use over-the-counter hearing aids. They are not made for children with any degree of hearing loss or adults who have more severe cases. If your hearing loss is more severe, over-the-counter hearing aids will not be able to boost sounds to a level that will help you.

The FDA has rules that manufacturers of over-the-counter hearing aids must follow. In general, these rules from the government:

• Make sure that the over-the-counter hearing aids are safe and work well for people who think they have mild to moderate hearing loss.
• Set standards for the labels on OTC hearing aid packages to help people understand what they are and who might benefit from them. On the labels, there are also warnings and other things you should know before buying or using the hearing aid, like signs that you need to see a doctor.

Personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) are another type of amplification device that you can buy without a doctor’s note or prescription. PSAPs are for people who don’t have extensive trouble hearing. They help you hear certain sounds better in certain situations, like when you are watching birds. The FDA regulates over-the-counter hearing aids for adults with hearing loss as medical devices, but PSAPs are not.

Who Can Use Over-The-Counter Hearing Aids?

Hearing aids available over-the-counter (OTC) are for adults aged 18 and up who think they have self-perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss, even though they haven’t had a hearing test. You may have mild-to-moderate hearing loss if, for example:

• Speech and other sounds are hard to hear.
• When you’re in a group, in a noisy place, on the phone, or when you can’t see who is talking, you have trouble hearing.
• You have to ask people to speak more slowly, clearly, loudly, or to say what they said again.
• When you watch TV, listen to the radio or listen to music, you turn up the volume more than most people do.
• Talk to a hearing health professional if you have trouble hearing people talk in quiet places or if you have trouble hearing loud sounds like cars or trucks, noisy appliances, or loud music. These are signs that your hearing loss might be worse and that over-the-counter hearing aids won’t help you much. A hearing health professional can help you figure out if a hearing aid or other device that you need to get a prescription for will help you hear better.

Hearing loss hurts the quality of life for tens of millions of adult Americans and adds to the high cost of health care. Hearing loss that isn’t treated can make people feel alone, and it has been linked to serious problems like depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, dementia, less mobility, and falls. But only one out of every four adults who could use hearing aids has ever used one. As the number of older people in the U.S. continues to grow, it is important for public health to make hearing health care more accessible and affordable.

Prescription Hearing Aids

While OTC devices are designed to make hearing aids more accessible to the population, it’s important to note that many people opt for traditional hearing aids because of the benefits having professional advice will bring. Prescription hearing aids will be more customized to your specific needs because they will be programmed based off of your hearing test results.

If you want to learn more about the differences between OTC and prescription hearing aids, give the team at Hearing Solutions Inc. a call at (701) 566-7280.