Middle school students at Ayla Wing don’t always know what to do with their 26-year-old teacher’s hearing aids. The most common response she hears is “Oh my grandma has one too”.
But my grandmother’s hearing aids were never like this. Because it’s Bluetooth-enabled and connected to her phone, Wing can switch between custom settings with a single touch. You can shut out the world while riding the squeaky subway and hear your friends in a noisy bar during a night out.
A number of new hearing aids have hit the market in recent years, offering a great appeal to the younger generation according to some experts. develop hearing loss early in life And perhaps paradoxically, we’ve grown accustomed to expensive technology that pumps sound into our ears.
Some of the newer models, including Ms. Wing’s, are made by traditional prescription brands that usually require a professional’s consultation. But the Food and Drug Administration last year opened up the market by allowing hearing aids to be sold over the counter. In response, brands such as Sony and Jabra began releasing their own products, adding new designs and features to appeal to younger consumers.
“These new hearing aids are sexy,” said Pete Bilzerian, 25, of Richmond, Virginia. He’s been wearing these hearing aids since he was seven years old, and he describes the early models as decidedly unsexy. A colored hearing aid with molding over the entire ear. Increasingly, however, they’re being replaced by more sophisticated, smaller models with more technical features.
These days, he said, no one seems to notice the electronics in his ears. “If it comes up, I just ignore it and say, ‘Hey, I got these very expensive AirPods.'”
Experts say more people in Bilzerian’s age group may want the equivalent of expensive AirPods.By the time they turn 30, about a fifth of today’s Americans will be have a hearing impairment By noise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently estimated.This number is already Substantial A population of young people with hearing loss related to genetics or medical conditions.
It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact number of young adults who need or use hearing aids, but both hearing aid manufacturers and medical experts say the population is growing. According to Phonak, a leading prescription hearing aid maker, the number of Americans between the ages of 22 and 54 who wore the company’s hearing aids increased from 2017 to users of all other ages between 2021 and 2021. than he increased by 14%.
“Anecdotally, the past decade has seen an increase in the number of young people seeking hearing protection.
Experts say hearing aids are bridging the generation gap for several reasons. Attitudes have changed as technology has advanced, more young people are willing to try it, and more and more people in their 20s are navigating an increasingly noise-soaked world. you may need them when Worldwide, more than 1 billion young people are at risk of noise-induced hearing loss, according to the World Health Organization.
But there are still significant barriers. Hearing aids are expensive, most costing him $1,000 or more, especially for those without proper medical insurance. Also, the options can be confusing and difficult to navigate. Many models still have to be prescribed by an audiologist. The stigma may be fading, but it hasn’t completely disappeared.
According to data collected in 1989 by MarkeTrak, a consumer research organization that is part of Hearing Industries of America, people who wear hearing aids are “less capable, unattractive, less youthful and more handicapped.” It is recognized that there are many.But today, organizations said in a recent reporthearing aid users are “rarely or never embarrassed or rejected.”
The advent of over-the-counter hearing aids has provided new options but made market entry more complex. There are dozens of brands to choose from, ranging from tiny in-ear pods to those that use long metal arcs around your ears. Some in-store options can also be ordered online with free shipping.
Created by Blake Cadwell healthilya website that allows users to compare hearing aid brands and prices after attempting to navigate the complex market on their own.
“When I started the process, the main thing I experienced was that it was difficult to know where and how to start.
even for free be diagnosed with hearing loss It can be difficult. People interested in hearing may start with an ear, nose, and throat specialist, often referred to an audiologist or hearing clinic for a combination of hearing, physical, or imaging tests. .
Juliann Zhou, a 22-year-old international student at New York University, was motivated to have her ears examined after suffering from severe tinnitus, diagnosed as tinnitus due to moderate hearing loss. Still, she’s not sold on her hearing aids, an audiologist in the US recommended them, but her parents and her doctor in China told her they were “for the elderly only.” .
“I don’t know if it’s necessary,” she said.
Ms Zhou said she “probably listened to music too loud”, which caused her deafness. It’s an increasingly common concern, according to the Hearing Loss Association, calling noise-induced hearing loss a growing public health crisis.
Although no long-term follow-up data are available, the association found that 12.5% of Americans between the ages of 6 and 19 had hearing loss as a result of listening to loud music with earphones, especially at dangerous volumes. I’m assuming there are.
For those who need them, the new wave of over-the-counter aids could be more affordable than many prescription models. Djawadi, 26, says that makes hearing aids a good first choice for more young people.
“This is one of the biggest things I’ve seen in this field in a really long time,” she said.
Wing, a middle school teacher, said she decided to buy new hearing aids a few months before she turned 26 and lost her parents’ health insurance. Otherwise, she said, a $4,000 prescription hearing aid wouldn’t be affordable.
Wing was concerned about the durability and effectiveness of over-the-counter aids compared to prescription drugs, which she expects to last at least five years.
“I wear glasses too, but reading glasses must be obtained from an eye doctor, not just from CVS,” she said. “So are my hearing aids.”
Wing said many of her colleagues in their 40s and 50s could benefit from hearing aids but worry about negative perceptions. she tries to brush it off.
“I tell everyone I know I have hearing aids,” Ms. Wing said.
