OTC vs. Prescription Hearing Aids: What's the Difference?

Author: Dr. Lori Miller

Overview: OTC hearing aids are available directly to adults 18 and older with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. Prescription hearing aids are selected and fit with professional hearing care and can address a wider range of hearing needs. The right option depends on your hearing loss, listening needs and desired level of professional support.

We get some version of this question all the time:

“Can I just buy hearing aids online now?”

The short answer is yes. Adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss can purchase over-the-counter hearing aids without first seeing a hearing professional.

But that doesn't mean OTC and prescription hearing aids are the same thing.

The biggest difference isn't simply where you buy them. It's how much professional evaluation, customization and ongoing care surrounds them.

What are OTC hearing aids?

Over-the-counter hearing aids were created to make hearing technology more accessible to adults with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.

You can purchase them without a prescription or hearing evaluation.

For some adults with straightforward needs, they may be worth considering.

The important part is knowing what you're trying to solve.

What are prescription hearing aids?

Prescription hearing aids are selected and fit based on a professional hearing evaluation.

At High Tone, we look at the type and degree of hearing loss, but that's only the beginning.

We also want to know what you're having trouble hearing. Speech? Television? Meetings? Restaurants? Your spouse? Your grandchildren?

Those answers help us determine what kind of technology may actually help.

Is an OTC hearing aid basically a cheaper prescription hearing aid?

Not exactly.

There can be meaningful differences in available technology, customization, fitting and professional support.

But we think there's an even bigger distinction.

With OTC hearing aids, you are largely responsible for figuring it out.

With professionally fit hearing aids, you have someone figuring it out with you.

That's a very different experience.

How do I know which one I need?

Start with your hearing.

If you've never had a comprehensive hearing evaluation, that's usually where we'd begin.

You may discover your hearing is better than you thought. You may have hearing loss that would benefit from amplification. Or we may find something that deserves medical attention rather than simply turning up the volume.

That's one reason we don't love choosing technology before understanding the hearing problem.

Are OTC hearing aids bad?

No.

They're another option.

And we think more options are generally a good thing when people understand what they're buying.

What we don't want is someone spending money on a device that isn't appropriate for their hearing, becoming frustrated and deciding that “hearing aids don't work.”

Sometimes the problem isn't hearing aids. It's the wrong hearing aid, the wrong fit or the wrong approach.

If you're not sure which category you fall into, that's a perfectly reasonable reason to talk with an audiologist. You don't have to know the answer before you walk through our door.

High Tone Hearing provides comprehensive hearing evaluations and prescription hearing aid services in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.