The Public Perception of Hearing Aids

The simple fact about hearing aids is that many people would not be caught dead wearing one, no matter how deaf they become. In fact hearing aids are quite interesting in the sense that they remain shrouded in a negative stigma within our society. Other aids such as reading glasses have been able to emerge from their shameful past and take their place as high fashion items, but such is not the case with hearing aids. The result of this negativity toward hearing aids has traditionally meant that significant portions of hearing impaired people are not getting the relief that they need. The negativity surrounding hearing aids is resulting in hearing aid manufacturer not being able to realize the potential of their market, a problem that they are keen to address.

Hearing aid suppliers are currently embarking upon a campaign to destroy the stigma that hearing aids and devices currently have and build a new reputation of social acceptance. Much of this transformation is reliant on affiliating hearing aids with popular gizmos such as iPods and Buetooth cell phone accessories. Hearing aid manufacturer are hopeful that by association, they can make their product hip and in doing so coax a new generation of hearing impaired people to wear hearing aids. In essence, the problem of hearing loss is quite substantial, especially with aging populations in most developed countries, so the challenge to manufacturers is not to increase market share so much as it is to reinvigorate their products says http://www.1hearingaid.com .This has translated into a vastly different approach to hearing aid design from some companies.

Traditionally, the goal of hearing aid designers has been to make the item as small and inconspicuous as possible. The idea being to address the negativity of hearing aids by subtlety or by being undetectable. More recently, the decision has been to make the item technologically advance and thus sexier. Options such as remote controls, playback functions and cell phone interface are all being explored and soon you may even start seeing hearing aids on the shelves beside other popular audio entertainment equipment.

The author is a regular contributor to http://www.1hearingaid.com and permission to reproduce this article is given only on the basis that all links remain active and intact.