When your audiologist recommends hearing aids
We
believe strongly that hearing rehabilitation is a collaborative
effort. For our part, the road to helping you succeed begins with a complete
evaluation and accurate diagnoses of the cause and extent of
your hearing loss, a personalized treatment plan that addresses
your unique needs, and ongoing counseling and support to help
you achieve your goals. Your part is dedicating yourself to the
process of learning a new way of hearing.
As
dispensing audiologists, we recommend and fit the
great variety of digital hearing aids on the market today. These
devices can dramatically improve your hearing, and in the
process, your quality of life. We can also recommend assistive
listening devices (ALD's) to amplify everyday
sounds in your home or workplace.
That said,
there is no one-size-fits-all hearing aid, and they do have their
limits. The "right" hearing aids are the ones that are most
appropriate for your
level of hearing loss, overall health, lifestyle, work environment,
and budget, among other factors we take into consideration to
personalize your hearing rehabilitation program.
Which brings us to the first
decisions our
patients must make: the decision to wear hearing aids and whether to
adapt their home or work environment with one or more
assistive-listening devices.
What is the right choice of hearing
aids for you?
Most people, when
told by their audiologist that they need hearing aids, share common
concerns: "How do I wear them?" "How will they look from the outside?" "What
will they
cost?"
The pictures
to the right show the basic types of hearing aids: Behind The Ear
(BTE), In The Ear (ITE), In The Canal (ITC), Completely In The Canal (CIC), Open Fit, and Body-Worn
Hearing Aids.
The choice of
instruments for an individual patient depends on your degree and
type of hearing loss, as well as your lifestyle. We take extra care
to ensure your hearing aids fit properly according to your
comfort-level.
Another
advantage of digital technology - smallness - makes it possible to
enjoy state-of-the-art sound amplification while wearing discrete,
even stylish custom hearing aids. We've pictured an Open Fit hearing
aid at the beginning of the article to show a type of hearing aid
that's worn externally and yet almost disappears behind the ear.
As for
cost, this also depends on what you need and your choice of devices. But don't be discouraged by the Ferraris of
digital hearing aids. Understanding that hearing aids are an important investment, at any
price, we'll fit you with quality, reliable, discreet devices that also fit
your budget.
How do digital hearing aids
work?
Digital hearing aids were
first introduced in the 1980's. These "Next Generation"
hearing devices, like other digital technologies, such as the one
you're using to research hearing - the computer - have advanced
rapidly and gotten smaller.
Digital
devices capture and convert sound waves into digital signals, which
duplicate the sounds exactly, and amplify sounds while minimizing
"feedback", the annoying background noise common to older hearing
aids. These signals are passed along to the auditory nerve in the
inner ear, and ultimately to the auditory center of the brain.
One of the great benefits of
digital hearing technologies is that we can program them and add
features, as necessary, to customize your hearing aids.
For more technical information on
digital hearing aids, the
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association has a good article:
Digital Hearing Aids: Current "State-of-the-Art". And of course,
we're happy to answer any questions you might have.
