Photo courtesy of Bose
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
Fierce Technology reports on Bose’s launch of its direct-to-consumer sound control hearing aid. This technically isn’t a hearing aid within the federal regulatory scheme, and appears to be placed, both in terms of price and technology, somewhere between traditional hearing aids and newer personal sound amplification products.
Many see great progress in PSAPs and other technologies, e.g., Bluetooth type technologies, to help those with hearing loss hear better.
We’ll have to see if these live up to their promise. A major problem with traditional hearing aids is that many users complain about not being able to understand speech better in noisy environments, and it’s not clear if these newer devices will solve that problem.
I think it’s much better to preserve one’s hearing by avoiding loud noise, or using hearing protection if one can’t escape the noise. That’s what I do, and that’s what I recommend for everyone.
Because if something sounds too loud, it is too loud, and one’s auditory health is at risk.
