There is a possibility that you have so much hearing loss, or your inner ear produces so much distortion, that you will not be able to hear the difference between "good" hearing aids and "the best" hearing aids.

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Most people with severe or profuond hearing losses, or people with poor speech discrimination, are going to do as well as they can with high quality, advanced but still conventional hearing aids. Look for hearing aids with as many of the following features as are suitable for your particular hearing loss:

input compression	Recommended for some, but not all, hearing losses. Allows for some degree of automatic regulation of the hearing aid circuit, requiring you to adjust the volume less often, and protects you from loud sounds being too loud while simultaneously letting you hear as much soft sound as possible.
output compression	Recommended for some, but not all, hearing losses. Lets you get as much amplification as possible while simultaneously protecting you from loud sounds, and is more likely to prevent loud sounds from becoming distorted due to circuit saturation.
two-channel compression	More precisely matches the hearing aid output to your hearing loss. Recommended if you have a large difference between low and high freqency hearing sensitivity for soft or for loud sounds.
dispenser-adjustable feedback control	Helps your audiologist regulate the hearing aid so that you get as much hearing as possible without walking around whistling.
dispenser-adjustable tone controls	Helps your audiologist fine-tune your hearing aids to your hearing loss.
dispenser adjustable AGC kneepoint	Helps your audiologist fine-tune your hearing aids to your hearing loss.
switchable low-frequency reduction for high noise environments	You may be able to function better in restaurants and other places if you can flip a switch to reduce low-frequency noise.
automatic low-frequency reduction for high noise environments	The intention is to let you function better in restaurants and other places my automatically reducing low-frequency noise. (Some people find this type of circuit reduces speech volume too much, detracting from rather than adding to understanding.)
full-size in-the-ear or small case behind-the-ear	You probably will not be able to use in-the-canal and completely in-the-canal hearing aids. Depending on your exact loss and the size and shape of your ears, you may be able to use an in-the-ear model. Many of the newer power behind-the-ear hearing aids are smaller than their predecesors.
soft earmolds	More comfortable and less prone to feedback than hard lucite (the clear material usually used).

Hearing aids with all or most of these features typically cost from typically cost from $900 to $1200 each.

Note for hearing professional:

The bearer of this page has indicated having a severe or worse hearing loss, and/or very poor speech discrimination. This page came from the following Internet site: www.earinfo.com. You are invited to list your office at this site. Copyright 2005 Earinfo.com (mail@earinfo.com).