Make a fashion statement with hearing aids

Hockey Sunday 07/October/2018 19:22 PM
By: Times News Service
Make a fashion statement with hearing aids

When thinking about fashionable accessories, images of jewellery, scarves, ties or glasses may come to mind. You might even think of the growing number of wearable technology options like earbuds or smartwatches, offering useful and sleek accessories. In any case, hearing aids are often the last thing people think of when it comes to fashion.
Why aren’t hearing aids fashionable?
Unlike glasses, which despite being an assistive medical device have achieved the status of fashion accessory, hearing aids are still perceived as making their wearers seem old or out of touch. The reason may be that unlike hearing aids, glasses have evolved over the decades. They now come in a wide range of styles, sizes and colours, giving people an almost endless variety of options to express themselves. Hearing aids, however, have remained relatively unchanged - retaining their thick, clunky, teardrop shape. The combination of limited options and negative connotations contributes to the reality that most people with hearing loss choose not to seek treatment. Instead, they’ll simply live with it and continue to miss out on the important sounds of life. But what if hearing aids were designed with style in mind? What if hearing aids could be re-imagined into fashionable, cool accessories that help you hear, rather than outdated medical devices? Some of the newest hearing aids on the market may provide a solution.
Hearing aids with a design-first approach
The reason for the typical hearing aid shape is due to necessity, a result of having to fit the round, coin-shaped batteries inside the casing. However, by rethinking the hearing aid shape design-first, it’s possible to change that form entirely. The first step is to create a slim and sleek hearing aid shell that looks good, and then develop a new, narrow battery to fit inside. The result is a skinnier hearing aid that sits comfortably behind the ears — and looks nothing like the traditional model.
Modern colour palette
Another common complaint about hearing aids is the colour, since many people think of the unappealing beige hearing aids their grandparents wore. Although hearing aids today come in a wide range of colours to match their wearers’ hair colour or skin tone, these choices are all designed with one goal — for the hearing aids to blend in. But some of the latest hearing aids come in bold colours to make them stand out. By using cool, modern colours, like rose gold, cosmic blue and snow white, hearing aids look more like those earbuds and smartwatches that people like to wear and love to show off. These bold colours enable people with hearing loss to project their own style with the colours that best match their personality and fashion sense.
Greater convenience
Of course, fashion isn’t just how you dress or accessorise — it’s also about your lifestyle. In today’s world, many of us lead busy, active lives and don’t want to be slowed down by having to take care of hearing aids. That’s why rechargeability is a must-have for today’s hearing aid wearers. The same battery that enables the newest hearing aids’ sleek shape is rechargeable, meaning you can be confident your hearing aids will be fully charged each day. That way, you don’t have to worry about them running out of power while you go about your day, or have to stop what you’re doing to change tiny batteries.
Better hearing is always in style
While creating hearing aids as modern, fashionable devices can help convince more people with hearing loss to wear them, equally important is that they maintain their primary function — to help people hear. In addition to revolutionary design, the latest hearing aids also deliver a wide range of features to provide superior hearing in any situation, from understanding other people even in noisy environments to hearing your own voice as naturally as possible. Although hearing aid technology has changed dramatically over the years, the appearance of the devices has not. However, the latest hearing aids on the market have disrupted this trend with new models people can be proud to wear, while showing off their style.