After you take a hearing test, you’ll spend a little bit of time looking at your different hearing aid options. There are two main categories of hearing aids: over-the-counter and prescription.
Over-the-counter hearing aids are those that you’ll find at wholesalers and online retailers. Prescription hearing aids are those you get from licensed hearing aid professionals, like those at Heard It Through The Grapevine Audiology, PC.
The Benefits of Prescription Hearing Aids
A 2025 randomized clinical trial involving 245 participants found that while OTC hearing aids provided amplification benefits, overall patient satisfaction was higher among those who received prescription devices.
Prescription hearing aids are beneficial because no two cases of hearing loss are the same. If you bring your significant other or parent in for a hearing test, you’ll both get different results. It’s those differences that make prescription hearing aids so crucial.
A licensed hearing aid professional won’t just look at how loud something needs to be for you to hear it. They’ll also measure which frequencies you struggle to understand. They’ll use these readings to fine-tune devices that amplify and adjust sounds in a way that feels natural to you.
How Does a Fitting Work?
Your audiologist will walk you through the different hearing aids available for your degree of hearing loss. Once you choose your devices, they may take a custom mold of your ear and send it to the manufacturer. After your hearing aids arrive at our clinic, we’ll adjust their settings to match your hearing profile.
We’ll also take a real-ear measurement. This method ensures that your devices deliver exactly the sound we want. During the measurement, we’ll place a small microphone in the ear canal and have you wear your hearing aids. We’ll play a noise through the hearing aids, and the microphone will measure the sound pressure. If necessary, we’ll make adjustments to the settings.
After we finish adjusting the settings, we’ll walk you through how to use and care for your hearing aids to make your transition easier. Depending on your devices, we may show you how to insert and remove them, charge or change the batteries, use the controls, clean them and use the smartphone app. This guidance is crucial for you to ensure you’re getting the most benefit from your devices. For example, knowing how to use the smartphone app will help you adjust your volume settings for a day at Meadowmere Park.
Schedule Your Fitting Today
If your hearing aids are on their way or have arrived at our clinic, call us at Heard It Through The Grapevine Audiology, PC today to schedule your fitting appointment.