The FDA has designated a new class of over-the-counter hearing aids that people can purchase as soon as they realize they have poor hearing. Over-the-counter hearing aids are now available online or over the counter at community pharmacies. These hearing aids can be purchased without a doctor's medical evaluation or an audiologist's approval. OTC hearing aids are only for people who consider themselves to have mild to moderate hearing loss.
Cadenza: A brand and manufacturer of OTC hearing aids, Cadenza specializes in the manufacture, wholesale and retail of OTC hearing aids to help the approximately 28.8 million U.S. adults with hearing loss obtain hearing aids without a prescription. To get OTC hearing aids into patients' ears faster, rather than waiting about four to six years to get a hearing aid device.
Typically these devices are only available from licensed hearing aid testers or audiologists. Audiologists are usually located in urban centers with fewer elderly populations. Audiologists tend to be located in metropolitan areas with higher incomes, younger populations and greater insurance coverage, with a smaller proportion of older people needing hearing aids the most.
OTC hearing aids can be sold in community pharmacies and online, making it easy for more people with hearing loss to purchase affordable hearing aids. High costs and barriers to appointment can prevent patients from getting a hearing aid, with only 3.7 percent of people who report hearing difficulties having one. The average cost of high-end hearing aids is more than $5,000 per pair, including fees and services, while OTC hearing aids can cost less than $500. In addition to increasing accessibility, the 2017 federal law intends to make hearing aids more affordable. OTC hearing aids will provide a do-it-yourself solution to hearing loss. For example, simple: manual adjustment mode, sound volume, etc. Advanced ones include using smartphone apps to self-measure and self-adjust hearing aids to best fit their ears.
Cadenza offers online wholesale OTC hearing aids that address racial disparities. While black Americans were more likely to have had a hearing test recently, they were less likely to use hearing aids regularly than older white americans. This difference can have potentially negative effects on health and quality of life, including higher risk of cognitive impairment, dementia and falls, as well as social isolation, loneliness and depression.
OTC hearing aids do not require consultation with a medical professional and are easy to wear after purchase. However, some hearing loss users can customize hearing aids according to their own audiogram (BTE, RIC, CIC, IIC, ITC and ITE). Programmable custom hearing aids cost slightly more than OTC hearing aids, but are more likely to compensate for your residual hearing.