
News, Information and Ideas on how to deal with hearing loss in a hearing world. Plus a few other topics!
Hearing Aids vs. Personal Sound Amplifiers - Know the Difference!
Just received another email from a lady that got scammed into buying a Personal Sound Amplifier instead of a hearing aid. We've all seen the commercials on TV. There are a variety of these out there. What consumers do not realize is that this is NOT a hearing aid. It is presented as an alternative to costly hearing aids and promises to do the same thing. It doesn't...
Here's the latest news on PSA's from the FDA. For anyone considering spending the money (it is almost impossible to get a refund from these places), please take the time to look at the information from the FDA.
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm185459.htm
For those of you that don't know what a Personal Sound Amplifier is, here's the link to several companies that are now selling/hawking them.
Have a great week!
Copyright 2009 Tami Klink
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4 Comments
Songbird Ben - Oct 22, 2009 8:59 AM
I work for Songbird, so please keep that in mind. But I wanted to point out that Songbird has a unique place among hearing aids. We do advertise on TV (like the PSAD companies) and we also have low costs compared to traditional hearing aids, but our products are actually high-quality hearing aids, addressing the needs of consumers with mild-to-moderate hearing loss.
If you care to try or test-drive one, we would be happy to send a review sample. And for more information, you can find us at www.songbirdhearing.com.
Take care and thank you for posting on this subject!!!
Ben
heardoc - Oct 22, 2009 9:53 AM
Great article! I am an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor and we tested all hearing aids and sound amplifiers below $100 to see if any were suitable for our patients that could not afford traditional hearing aids. Almost all were junk and in certain cases, potentially dangerous. Songbird hearing aid was good quality but due to its disposable nature, it became a very expensive solution.
We then created the Acoustitone hearing aid line to our exact specifications. It has been tested by several prominent physicians and audiologists, and our patients have been very pleased.
For more information, you can read at www.MDHearingAid.com.
Thanks for bringing this topic to your readers!
Dr C
Tami Klink - Oct 28, 2009 8:53 AM
As you both probably know, I rarely test products and the ones that I have, I've always returned. The risk that the companies take by having me check out the product is that I'm very honest in my appraisal of it. So far, America Hears is the only company that has agreed to let me test their HA's and then write a series of columns on them. But, they are a definite alternative to spending thousands of dollars on a HA.
Also, did you see the latest Hearing Review issue? There is a gentleman that is a fantastic researcher who has had his article on the numbers of people in the US with hearing loss published in there. Very detailed and full of the latest stats, graphs, ect. If you need the link, let me know and I'll email it to you.
Have a great week!
Tami Klink - Oct 28, 2009 9:00 AM