Berkeley Hills Expert Articles | How long do hearing aids last?

Patients routinely ask me when they should consider upgrading from their current hearing devices. The answer isn’t necessarily straight forward, in large part because of cost considerations. Investing in critical hearing healthcare, which is what folks are actually doing when they “buy hearing aids”, isn’t cheap and unfortunately typically isn’t covered by insurance.

Because we’re only concerned about our patients hearing and cognitive health, the answer we give our patients is twofold. Since hearing devices are effectively little computers (they have an operating system, onboard memory and microprocessor performing millions of calculations per second), technological advances absolutely translate to improved benefit for the user. The faster the processor, the more memory, the better the sound processing algorithms, the better the ability of the device to provide the best audio signal for the user. Patients will typically notice improved performance from hearing devices that are 2-3 generations newer than the ones they currently wear. This translates to about every 3-5 years. That’s the first part of the answer.

Because finances are often a consideration, the second part of the answer is that hearing devices can certainly be made to last longer than 5 years, though also at a cost. Hearing devices don’t have an expiration date when they stop working. Personal computers become obsolete (or at least deficient) fairly quickly because software is always being created/updated for the latest computer processing capabilities. With hearing aids, assuming the components (microprocessor, microphones, speaker, battery) are working properly, they will continue to do what they did when they were new because the manufacturers aren’t ‘improving’ the software for those hearing devices. Also, since they are programmable, they can be adjusted to provide more volume as the hearing loss changes. 

Note the assumption above though. If the devices are not working properly, all bets are off. Hearing devices are remarkably resilient for the wear and tear they are exposed to. But as with hearing loss itself, the decline in performance is fairly insidious, so the user doesn’t realize (until it’s obvious) that the devices aren’t helping as they could. They require regular maintenance to perform properly. For instance, we invite patients back every 6 months, servicing their devices (changing speakers/microphone covers/housing, desiccating to remove moisture from the components, etc.) to make sure they are performing as designed. Hearing devices typically come with one or more years of hearing healthcare services and repair warranty. After expiration of the repair warranty and service agreement, users are now paying out-of-pocket, with costs becoming not insignificant ($hundreds or more). In the short term, that’s certainly less than the cost of new devices (with included healthcare), but the decision then becomes one of cost/benefit. Do you invest money into keeping the older technology functioning, or do you invest it in improved technology (with warranty) and healthcare? It can be a difficult question to answer for folks, because neither answer is obviously right or wrong. Again, if money wasn’t an issue…but that’s not reality for most folks.

Apart from the (literal) financial cost considerations, it’s critical to remember that hearing devices are also prophylactic treatment, maintaining auditory and cognitive function. Poor hearing also exacts a cost.