Most companies will have a trial period that you can try them for and get a refund (in Canada anyway) and would strongly suggest that. The earlier (younger) you get them the more likelihood they will benefit you and when you trial them you need to use consistently as does take so time for your brain to adjust to them. The newer generation hearing aids are much better than the older ones at decreasing back ground noise but still can be an issue in larger crowds. Typically the more expenses ones have more ability to cancel out the background noise.