Your Options to Address a Hearing Challenge in 2025

Thinking of optimizing your hearing health but aren’t sure what your options are? You’re already off to a good start by reading this – as one of Toronto and Mississauga’s leading teams of hearing health professionals, we’ve got you covered.

By 2050, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.5 billion people will have some degree of hearing loss. Hearing loss is manageable with a variety of methods of technology and care, but with so many choices to research, it can be stressful and dissuading to figure out what’s best for your unique needs.

No two pairs of ears are the same, and your hearing health journey should be as unique as you are. Here are the most up-to-date methods on treating hearing loss for 2025.

Hearing Aids vs. Hearing Care

Many people out there hold the belief that hearing aids are the one-stop solution to hearing loss, but the truth is that great technology is just a pitstop on your hearing health journey.

Your relationship with your co-pilot, your hearing health professional, is what makes the biggest difference.

Hearing aids and other assistive technologies enhance and optimize your hearing, but the heavy lifting is done by you as you continuously adapt to your hearing health needs, with your team of hearing experts supporting you with professional advice.

With the help of your hearing care expert, your treatment plan will be personalized to fit your specific needs, from your budget and hobbies to your hearing loss diagnosis.

Ask someone you know with hearing aids or one of our previous patients – the device is a tool to help you as you navigate your hearing health journey.

What Are Your Options for Addressing Hearing Challenges?

Whether you’re looking for a hand-held approach with lots of professional guidance or a do-it-yourself solution at home, there are several options available to help you address your hearing loss challenges.

1. Personal Sound Amplification Products (PSAPs)

PSAPs work to amplify all sound picked up by the microphone in the piece, offering general noise amplification at an accessible and affordable level.

We’d equate these to a magnifying glass: PSAPs amplify every sound the microphone picks up, including the noise you don’t necessarily want any louder.

2. Costco Kirkland-Branded Hearing Aids

Costco’s Kirkland hearing aids are an expedient method of treating hearing loss and are accessible to individuals with a Costco membership.

Their devices are often brought up when we see patients for hearing tests, asking us about the differences between prescription devices and Costco’s.

Costco’s hearing aids are fitted in-store after a pure-tone audiometry test, which is a basic hearing test to test for the frequencies and pitches of sound you can and cannot hear.

In comparison, a comprehensive hearing assessment from a professional is more exhaustive and provides conclusive results about your hearing challenges, including whether you can hear speech in background noise, how well you can interpret words in busy environments and more.

Costco’s hearing aids are similar to buying glasses online after doing an eyesight test at home – they can work for some situations but not all.

Plus, Costco’s retailer status means that if you’re in need of repairs or replacements for your hearing aids, you could be waiting weeks for care.

3. Working with a Local Clinic

For comprehensive hearing care, from hearing tests to hearing aids, working with your local hearing healthcare provider is the most straightforward way to address hearing challenges in a succinct manner.

While you’ll need to book multiple appointments to further your hearing health journey, your specialist will prepare the best course of action for your unique needs and requirements.

If your hearing loss challenges require hearing aids to optimize your hearing abilities, you can rest assured that your hearing care expert will recommend the best devices to fit your unique needs.

The latest and greatest in hearing aid technology features Bluetooth compatibility, AI sound processing, health monitoring and more – but if your sights are set on a simple solution, we can recommend the best direction for your ears.

4. Cochlear Implants

For some, hearing aids aren’t quite enough to optimize their hearing to their full potential. Cochlear implants, surgically implanted devices to address severe to profound hearing loss, could be the direction you need to go in regarding your hearing health.

While we do not fit cochlear implants ourselves, we can recommend you to a local specialist who can assist you. Our team is trusted by many local physicians and doctors; as healthcare professionals, we all work together to help our communities thrive!