Wrong device – or wrong advice might be to blame.
You may be at the end of your tether – confused even – wondering why the hearing aid that you have invested in doesn’t seem to be helping you.
Sometimes, the hearing aid that you have been prescribed is simply not the right one for you. Hence it is vitally important that you choose a knowledgeable, expert audiologist to reduce the risk of this happening.
This creates a relationship which is invaluable, not only because it is of benefit to talk to a professional about your issues, but also because they can be organic in their approach to solutions – and will be able to keep you up to date with the newest – most appropriate – technology. Also, over a period of time, your hearing may change and fluctuate.
A good, reputable audiologist will offer a comprehensive after care package, some hearing aids can also be adjusted remotely – without the need for an appointment with your audiologist. If your hearing aid is set at a fixed level, and your loss changes, it will naturally follow that it will seem to not be working. Loss or impairment of hearing is such a broad spectrum, that one size simply does not fit all – especially if bought as a ‘miracle cure’ on the internet, or from a Sunday newspaper.
In addition, ensuring your hearing aid(s) are set to your specific prescription is the tip of the iceberg. Your prescription – which is typically created by completing a Pure Tone Hearing Test – needs to be verified to your specific ear. Your ear is as unique as a fingerprint, so simply programming your prescription into your chosen hearing aid is not good enough! That prescription will work at very different levels dependent on the shapes & sizes of ear canals. Put it like this, you and your sibling have the exact same hearing loss, if you both wear exactly the same hearing aids, set to the exact same prescription, you will hear differently. Why is this? If you have a larger ear canal than your sibling then the ‘sound pressure level’ is lower & hence your aid will be producing less volume.
The only way to ensure you are getting the hearing prescription you need is to have this ‘Verified’. We do this by providing Real Ear Measurements, by placing a small tube into the ear canal, we can record this on screen & then adjust the gain at individual frequencies, thus ensuring your hearing aids are programmed for your hearing & your ear! We provide this routinely to our clients. Click on this link to read more…
Your audiologist should spend time with you, getting to know not just the nature of your loss, but also of your lifestyle and expectations from the device. Also, if you wear hearing aids continually, the brain, which is a super clever organ, adjusts, and normalises the improvement your aid initially provided, making it seem less effective. Your audiologist should be able to adjust the device and improve its performance.
Call award winning Steven Hale for an appointment
Steven\’s summary: Remember, your ear is as unique as a fingerprint – one size does NOT fit all!
