Apple’s devices are increasingly packed with health features, but a new hearing aid mode created for the wildly popular AirPods is an opportunity to make a real difference for the millions of Americans with hearing problems. . Starting next week, Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 will be able to function as a hearing aid for adults with mild or moderate hearing loss.
Thanks to a 2022 rule enacted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, companies can now sell over-the-counter hearing aids at stores like Best Buy, and you don’t need a prescription to use Apple’s hearing aid features on AirPods Pro. 2. To use AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid, simply take Apple’s new hearing test (which Apple announced along with the hearing aid feature) or upload your own test results. From there, people passing by can’t tell whether you’re wearing your AirPods to listen to calls or music, or whether you’re using them to enhance the sound around you.
This subtle and approachable approach to hearing loss treatment could be an important gateway for many people with mild hearing loss, said Tricia Ashby Subis, senior director of audiology at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. . While there are limits to what you can do (wearing them is based on comfort and is not intended for more severe hearing loss, for example), the AirPods Pro 2 may offer simpler features. . Perhaps they already own a pair, putting themselves in the hands of people who could benefit.
“I really like that it’s not necessarily a new product that you have to go out and buy,” Ashby Subis said after Apple announced the hearing aid feature. That sounds familiar.
Hearing aids are notoriously expensive and are often not covered by insurance. Other barriers, such as people’s beliefs about who hearing aids are for and a wave of stigma against hearing aid use, complicate access to hearing aids for more people. Approximately 29 million adults in the United States could benefit from hearing aids, but many have never tried them. Untreated hearing loss has a variety of health consequences, including social isolation and dementia.
Treating hearing loss is becoming more accessible as the world of hearing aids moves from prescription hearing aids to over-the-counter hearing aids and now to hearing aids built into the earphones you already own.
Comfort, cost, effectiveness: How do AirPods compare as hearing aids?
Even before Apple announced it was pursuing the over-the-counter hearing aid space, existing features allowed people to “hack” their earbuds to function as off-label hearing aids. So far, very limited research suggests that AirPods Pro are as functional as basic hearing aids, even if they’re not as good as higher-end models. Hearing aids range from personal and unregulated sound amplification products for situations that require louder sounds, to over-the-counter and prescription-grade hearing aids for mild or moderate hearing loss.
AirPods Pro 2 could be a much more affordable option for many people who would benefit from hearing aids. For example, AirPods Pro 2 currently hover between $200 and $250. That’s a far cry from the average price of prescription hearing aids, which is over $4,000, but a good OTC one will cost you at least a few hundred dollars.
Like other non-prescription hearing aids, AirPods Pro 2 are not suitable for everyone with hearing loss. Commercially available devices are not intended for children with hearing loss or adults with profound hearing loss. People who have pain or other ear symptoms in addition to hearing loss should see a doctor or audiologist before purchasing or using hearing aids.
What about comfort? Time will tell how many people find AirPods comfortable to wear as hearing aids for extended periods of time, but some may need to experiment with the fit. According to Ashby-Scabis, how you wear your AirPods and how comfortable they are can vary depending on your ear shape.
“Most ear canals are S-shaped, but that S-shape isn’t always a horizontal S-shape. It can also be kind of curved or upwards,” she explains, noting that her AirPods Along with other people wearing AirPods who added that they noticed that the stems were angled downwards unlike others. This is due to differences in the anatomy of the ear and ear canal.
This means that people who want to use their AirPods as hearing aids will need to make sure that their AirPods are “comfortable to wear for long periods of time,” which can include trying out the different sized tips that come with the AirPods. That could include, Ashby-Subis said. . And, as CNET’s Bridget Carey writes in her first-hand experience with Apple’s hearing aid features, the AirPods Pro 2’s battery life of about six hours makes it more practical to wear all day compared to other hearing aids. may be inferior.
Look at this: Testing Apple’s hearing aids: AirPods Pro 2 software update practice
With Apple’s hearing aid feature, more earbuds now have hearing aid mode?
The FDA cleared Apple’s hearing aid features through the De Novo pathway. The De Novo pathway is FDA terminology meaning that the hearing health software for AirPods is the first product cleared to go to market. This is important because the first company to obtain De Novo approval has demonstrated sufficient efficacy and safety for the new product that it may be easier for other companies to follow suit by obtaining approval. That may be the case.by FDA approval or by proving that their product is similar to something already on the market.
There’s no way to know whether other earphone or headphone companies will pursue similar hearing aid features as Apple, but the fact that Apple has officially gotten over the FDA hurdle makes other companies (at least in theory) more likely to pursue hearing aid features similar to Apple’s. For some, it might be a little easier. We have similar hearing aid software to sell our products.
If that happens, consumers may one day have even more options for hearing aids.
The importance of accepting and normalizing hearing loss
Although the removal of prescription barriers has improved access to hearing care in many ways, the number of people benefiting from hearing aids remains low compared to the number of people who need them. There aren’t many. In addition to remaining perceived stigma and other barriers to care, many people believe that their hearing loss is not severe enough to warrant hearing loss. You may also have a hard time accepting that you have it.
“As an audiologist, it’s not uncommon to see patients who come in for the first time with a hearing loss that has probably been present for 20 or 25 years,” Professor Ashby-Subis said. . This is a problem. This is because the longer you go without hearing, the more your brain gets used to hearing less.
“There’s a lot of education that goes into it,” Ashby-Subis said of reintroducing sound to the brain. An audiologist can help with fine-tuning your hearing aids or making adjustments along the way as a way to “make the process of getting sounds coming in and some sounds back into your ears more comfortable.”
Simply wearing AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid may not be enough care for people who have experienced hearing loss for many years. Seeing an audiologist or doctor, or using a different, specially fitted hearing aid may help. But normalizing hearing loss, including early signs, and getting tested can help people move through another major barrier to care faster: acceptance.
“In my world as an audiologist, if I can get people to have that awareness, that’s a good thing,” Ashby-Subis said. “Give them a little time to say, ‘Oh, well, maybe things aren’t as they seem.'”
She likened it to someone learning that they need glasses. As more people try things like AirPods and different in-ear technologies, Ashby-Subis said, more people may become eager to “pursue things that are actually useful and useful.” spoke.
