Cell phones are being used by everyone these days, and it includes people using digital hearing aids.  The basic problem with this is that people using digital hearing aids may find it difficult to converse on a cell phone, due to the radio frequency interference that mobile phones pick up.  People using the hearing aids can feel this interference in the form of buzzing and other sounds. 

Even hearing aids can pick up magnetic interference from the display, backlight and keypad of the phone.  This causes severe distortion of voice making hearing almost extremely difficult.

To avoid these problems it is important to buy the right devices.  

Finding the Right Cell Phone

If you use a hearing aid and wish to purchase a new cell phone, you will have to be careful in choosing one that will not create trouble.  Fortunately, The FCC modified its legislation in July 2003, which requires all cell phone manufacturers to create phone models that are compatible with hearing aids.  This is a good thing for people with hearing problems; however, a good amount of research is required, to find one that suits your needs. 

Call phone ratings is one of figuring out if a particular model will work with a particular hearing aid or not.  The cell phone should have a rating of M3 or M4 if it is going to be used with a hearing aid microphone.  For a telecoil, the rating should be T3 or T4.  It is ideal if the phone has both these settings, as most models do.  Another important factor is CDMA technology that needs to be available in the model. Luckily, these days most of the cell phones come with all these features.

Flip phones are best suited for people who use hearing aids, because these phone place the receiver in a better position and compatible with a hearing aid.  Buy a phone that provides the option of turning off the backlight and the display of the cell phone and both can cause interference when used with a hearing aid.

Neck loops are good to use with telecoils as they help reduce interference.  This neck loop can be plugged into the headset jack of the cell phone in order to diminish the sounds.

While it is better buying cell phones over the net, for the great deals one may get, it is not really the way to go for people using hearing aids.  It is better for them to buy in a proper brick-and-mortar shop, because the compatibility of the cell phone with the hearing aid needs to be checked, and many models may have to be looked at before finalizing on the perfect one. 

Finding the Right Hearing Aids

For people who wish to use cell phones, there are certain types of hearing aids that are better suited than others.  If you can get one, it is a good idea to get a hearing aid that has built-in RF immunity. This keeps out most of the disturbance when using a cell phone.

If you are using hearing aids that are in-the-ear model or behind-the-ear with a telecoil, it is important to learn to position the cell phone near the telecoil and not the ear.  With a CIC, which is a smaller model, the phone can be positioned leaving some space between the phone receiver and the aid, and this is easier done with the flip model phones. A great idea is to try and get a cell phone with a speaker. 

Conclusion

People with hearing aids have been found not to hear properly when using a cell phone.  The disturbances this causes leads to frustration and eventually giving up on using a cell phone.  That’s a thing of the past.  With the advancement of technology, all it needs is a little research and trying out the different models to find one that is suitable.  Testing out the cell phone with the hearing aid is the most important part of purchasing a phone.