A survey of over 2,700 hearing aid owners, published in The Hearing Journal, reported the top reasons people don’t wear their hearing aids. Those reasons included; poor benefit, background noise, poor fit or discomfort, they “don’t need help,” poor sound quality, problems adjusting the volume, the hearing aids only work in limited situations, couldn’t use it on the telephone, whistling and feedback, and poor directivity.
However, we have seen a revolution in hearing-aid technology – the biggest changes occurring in the past three years. With the advent of new technologies, fit and adjusted by a trained and experienced audiologist – one who works closely with their patients and allows them to try different technologies in order to fit their individual needs and budgets – hearing aids are now a more rewarding experience.
The latest digital technologies are available in hearing aids such as the Widex Mind and Inteo, and the Oticon Dual and Epoq. With four different levels of technology to fit every budget, we have been able to provide hearing aid users with remarkable features and results such as the following:
• Automatic adjustment of conversational speech and loud speech, making both clear and comfortable
• Comfort in high-intensity noise environments
• Telephone coils that allow us to hook up a television loop system in your home so television can go directly into your hearing aid.
• Feedback control systems for telephone use and no more whistling. Wireless Bluetooth technology with hook-ups for cell phones and MP3 players are now available.
• Directional and omni-directional microphones all in one hearing aid to allow better understanding of speech in noisy environments
• Enhanced music appreciation features
• Open Ear technology so people’s own voices don’t sound hollow, and makes it virtually invisible, allowing normal frequencies not to be blocked off and more!
Sound too good to be true? Well there’s only one way to tell. Try one at no cost to you, and you make the decision.
If you own an old technology hearing aid or if you simply have difficulty understanding what people are saying and you would like more info about the new technologies available, contact Nola Aronson, M.A., Patrice Rifkind, Au.D., Ginny Newman, Au.D., or Nina Ball, M.S. of Audiology Associates at 661-288-1400.