Over-the-counter hearing aids are available now. What to know when you buy.

Editor's Note: As of Oct. 17, 2022, a federal law went to effect that allows retail sales of hearing aids without a doctor's prescription or the need to visit an audiologist. This story was originally published in September.

Allergy medications, emergency contraceptives, laxatives — all were once available to shoppers only if they stopped by a doctor’s office first. But just as people with perceived vision loss can pick up a pair of reading glasses from their local pharmacy, those with hearing loss will soon be afforded the same convenience.

Over-the-counter hearing aids may be hitting shelves as soon as October.

Hearing loss affects as many as 30 million people in the U.S., and some say a recent regulatory change to allow for over-the-counter hearing aid sales has been a long time coming.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has been pushing for OTC hearing aids for years, starting with the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017, part of the FDA Reauthorization Act that same year. The act required the FDA to issue regulations for over-the-counter hearing aids — but there had been little progress until recently.

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Last year, Warren and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced some pointedly named bipartisan legislation, the Delivering Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids Now Act.

“There’s somebody out there for whom this is going to be a life-changing difference,” Warren said during a town hall event last week in Natick.

She pointed out that hearing aids can cost five times as much as an iPhone — without any of the phone capabilities — and that opening up the market will create more competition and drive down prices.

“We’re going to get more innovation,” Warren said. “We’re going to see more help for more people and we’re going to see it by actually making markets work.”

The FDA released its final rule this month. It will go into effect on Oct. 17.

“In creating a regulatory category for OTC hearing aids and amending existing rules, we intend to provide reasonable assurance of safety and effectiveness for these devices as well as foster access to, and innovation in, hearing aid technology, thereby protecting and promoting the public health,” reads a summary of the action.

Here’s what you should know before buying hearing aids.

How do hearing aids work?

A hearing aid is a small device worn in or behind the ear that amplifies certain sounds.

“Having a hearing aid when I first started fitting hearing aids was a handicap. That’s why they call them hearing aids. It made you look old, it dated you,” said Michael Andreozzi, CEO of Beltone New England, who has been in the hearing aid business for nearly 40 years. “Fast forward to today: Hearing aids have become incredibly sexy looking in some respects — the look and design of them and the size and how we build them and the way they’re made for you.”

Hearing aids should not be confused with personal sound amplification products. PSAPs are meant to amplify sound for those with full hearing in situations like bird watching — they are also not regulated by the FDA. Hearing aids, on the other hand, are meant to help those with hearing loss.

There is often a lag of a few years, Andreozzi said, from when people start experiencing hearing loss to when it becomes bad enough to see a specialist. Among audiology specialists, the lag time is referred to as a “river of molasses,” although, as Bostonians learned in 1919, rivers of molasses can be quite fast-moving.

The part of his job that makes Andreozzi smile is hearing about all the sounds ambient sounds that, quite literally, have faded to the background, forgotten: the toilet flushing sounds like Niagara Falls, birdsong and cicadas in summer and the crisp noise of tearing open a letter.

“I think it’s going to make people feel younger, and it’s going to make them hear better and enjoy life more,” he said of the wider availability of hearing aids.

How do I know if my hearing aid is working?

Although there are some comparisons to be made between hearing aids and eyeglasses as OTC hearing aids become available, Andreozzi stressed that everyone’s hearing loss is different.

“It’s kind of like a fingerprint,” he said. “There’s no hearing aid that comes off the shelf and just gets put in someone’s ear and they hear normally.”

Buying OTC hearing aids will leave the fine-tuning in the hands of the consumer — hearing aids aren’t a “plug and play” type of device.

Framingham-based Bose launched an over-the-counter hearing aid in 2018 that retailed for $850. Its hearing aids could be adjusted by the user via Bluetooth and an app, although the company announced earlier this year that it will discontinue offering OTC hearing aids. But it will partner with Lexie Hearing, which will sell hearing aids that use Bose's self-fitting technology.

Prescribed hearing aids — which can set customers back anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 or more, per ear — do come with the benefit of professional fittings, programming, checkups, adjustments and cleanings, generally for the life of the instrument.

But testing, fitting, readjusting and maintenance can require multiple trips and, between that and the cost, may be impossible for some people — it is estimated that only about 1 in 5 people who could use a hearing aid actually have them.

Andreozzi said that even if someone wants to get an OTC pair of hearing aids, it’s probably best to get checked out by a doctor or audiologist just in case. Perforated eardrums, issues in the middle ear and tumors can’t be diagnosed at home.

“With modern technology today, some of these over-the-counter devices will be, I’m sure, good quality. The question will be how well that someone can fit it to themselves and be satisfied with it,” he said.

Andreozzi suggested looking for instruments that can be recharged, because the tiny batteries required for the small hearing devices can be quite fiddly.

He acknowledged industry professionals are concerned that someone who’s been avoiding going to the doctor might turn to OTCs instead, have a bad experience, and then swear off hearing aids entirely.

Don’t get frustrated

“I’m excited for people to be able to hear and enjoy those things in life again — but by the same token, they forgot how loud, and sometimes annoying, those things can actually be,” he said. “Just give it some time for your ears and your body and your brain to acclimate to these new, found sounds that were always there, but being reintroduced to you.”

Androzzi said one of the most challenging things for people with hearing loss — whether they wear hearing aids or not — is background noise, like big crowds at a restaurant or events. Some higher-end products have digital processing to help with that, and experimenting with settings in OTC options will be key.

“I don’t want you to give up hope that you’re not going to be able to hear as well as you’d like just because the one you chose from a retailer or what have you didn’t have those feature sets on them,” he said. “Just give it some time.”

Abigail Patkin contributed to this report. 

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: where can I buy over-the-counter hearing aids Framingham MA Warren