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OTC Hearing Aids
What OTC Hearing Aids Can and Cannot Do
Since the FDA opened the category in 2022, over-the-counter hearing aids in Glen Burnie, MD have been sold straight to adults with no audiogram, no prescription, and no professional programming. The rules limit them to adults 18 and older with self-perceived mild to moderate loss, and you set them up yourself through a phone app. Nothing in that process confirms your hearing actually sits inside the OTC range.
Dr. Britney Ometz, Au.D.
Owner & Audiologist
Straight Answers, Even When OTC Is Enough
Dr. Ometz has talked through Apple's AirPods hearing aid feature on local news, and her position in the office is the same as on air: if a lower-cost or over-the-counter device would serve you just as well, she will tell you. When your audiogram calls for a prescription device, it is programmed to your loss, verified with Real Ear Measurement, and backed by follow-up care, insurance billing, and financing that keeps affordable hearing aids realistic.
Prescription vs. OTC Questions
Honest answers on over-the-counter hearing aids in Glen Burnie: who the FDA category was built for, when a diagnostic evaluation matters, and what prescription devices add.
OTC hearing aids are self-fitted devices with a fixed amplification range aimed at adults who believe their hearing loss is mild to moderate. You configure them through an app on your phone. There is no audiogram behind the settings, no professional programming, and no way to check what the device is actually putting into your ear.
Prescription hearing aids start from a diagnostic test, get programmed to your specific loss in each ear, and are verified with Real Ear Measurement. They cover mild through profound loss, handle asymmetry and single-sided hearing, and carry tinnitus programs that OTC devices do not offer. They also come with someone to call when something changes, which over five or six years of wear tends to matter more than the purchase price.
The FDA category covers adults 18 and older with self-perceived mild to moderate hearing loss. Self-perceived is the operative phrase. The rules turn on what you think your hearing is doing, not on what a test shows, and plenty of people who describe their loss as mild turn out to be well past that on an audiogram.
OTC devices are not built for children, sudden or quickly changing hearing loss, loss in one ear only, severe or profound loss, ear drainage, or a history of ear surgery. Any of those need a look from an audiologist first. A diagnostic hearing evaluation tells you which group you are in, which is the only honest way to answer this question for yourself. Call 410-766-6320 to schedule one.
Yes, and the reason has nothing to do with gatekeeping. A diagnostic hearing evaluation maps your hearing at every frequency in both ears and measures how well you follow speech when there is noise in the room. That data is the difference between a device that helps you understand people and one that just makes the room louder.
The exam also catches things amplification cannot fix: impacted earwax, a perforated eardrum, sudden sensorineural loss that needs a fast medical referral, or a gap between ears worth investigating. Evaluations at Anne Arundel Audiology are billed rather than free, and they are the least expensive part of the process by a wide margin. Buying devices before you know what you are treating is the expensive route.
A device bought off a shelf cannot account for the shape of your ear canal or the pattern of your loss across frequencies, and nothing in the box tells you whether it is amplifying correctly. Real Ear Measurement answers that with a probe microphone reading taken inside your ear, and research consistently puts professionally fit and verified hearing aids ahead of self-fitting on speech understanding.
The other half is what happens after. Dr. Ometz sees every patient herself, so adjustments, cleanings, repairs, and reprogramming as your hearing shifts all go through the person who knows your history. She also bills insurance, including Medicaid, Medicare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, and UnitedHealthcare, and offers Cherry and CareCredit when a plan leaves a gap.
Take 45 Days to Be Sure
Every set of hearing aids fitted at Anne Arundel Audiology comes with a 45-day trial period. Wear your devices where life actually happens — at work, around the dinner table, and out across Glen Burnie. Real-world listening is the only test that counts. If they aren't right for you, return them within 45 days and the cost of the devices is refunded; the professional services already provided are billed as a service fee.
Patient Reviews
Anne Arundel Audiology holds a 5.0-star rating across 197 Google reviews from Glen Burnie patients and their families.
It Is Never Too Soon to Start Hearing Better
Glen Burnie patients rate Dr. Ometz 5.0 stars across 197 reviews for unhurried, doctor-led care built around your hearing goals.
Serving Glen Burnie & Northern Anne Arundel County
Visit Us in Glen Burnie
You will find us in Suite 509 of Crain Towers on Crain Highway, next door to Crab Town USA and around the corner from UM Baltimore Washington Medical Center.
- 410-766-6320
- Fax: 410-755-8766
- [email protected]
- Doctor-owned, women-owned hearing clinic
- Every visit with Dr. Britney Ometz, Au.D.
- Real Ear Measurement verification on every fitting
- All major insurances accepted, including Medicare
- Wheelchair accessible entrance and parking
“Dr Ometz had a very welcoming personality to this second time patient. I saw her for the utilization of a new device to remove excess wax from my ears...I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend her for an audiology evaluation and hearing aid devices if needed.”— Don T., Verified Google Review
Anne Arundel Audiology
Hearing Clinic1600 Crain Hwy S., Suite 509, Glen Burnie, MD 21061
| Monday | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Tuesday | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Thursday | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM |
| Friday | 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | Closed |