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FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS How do I know if a hearing aid will help me? The vast majority of people with hearing loss will benefit from wearing hearing aids. After the hearing assessment it is usually possible to give some indication of the likely level of benefit. What do hearing aids do? Hearing aids amplify sounds to make them loud enough for you to hear, digital hearing aids amplify specific frequencies only and prevent the over-amplification of loud sounds, to give the most help just where it is needed. Why do I need a hearing assessment? Before we can recommend or fit you with any hearing aids we need to carry out a hearing assessment. The tests that we will carry out will help us decide the best instruments for you. We are legally required to carry out a hearing test before we are able to fit you with hearing aids. As part of the hearing assessment the Hearing Aid Audiologist needs to have a full understanding of your concerns and hearing needs and the greater part of the assessment will be spent on this. An audiogram is recorded to show the extent of any hearing loss that you may have. This will show the severity of loss measured in decibels and also the type of sounds (low or high pitch) that you have most difficulty hearing. The rest of the assessment will be spent explaining the results to you and discussing which hearing aids would best meet your needs. How long will it take to get used to wearing my hearing aids? It takes time to get used to wearing hearing aids, especially if you have lived with hearing loss for a long time. With normal hearing the brain is able to 'focus' on the sounds that we want to listen to, whilst 'filtering out' distracting background noise. As hearing deteriorates the brain loses this ability to 'focus'. When you first wear a hearing aid the brain is suddenly bombarded with lots of sound that it has not heard for some time. It takes a little while for the brain to 're-learn' how to 'focus' and 'filter' these noises again. Background noise can be distracting at first, but it will get better as the brain regains it's ability to focus. This process of adjustment can take some people a few weeks while for others it may take longer, the important thing is to persevere while gradually increasing the amount of time you spend wearing the hearing aids. When should I consider hearing aids? As soon as you notice that you are not hearing as well as you used to. It is better to start wearing hearing aids sooner rather than later. Generally speaking, the longer you leave it, the longer it takes to get used to wearing hearing aids. What is the difference between analogue and digital hearing aids? There are two different types of technology used to process sounds in a hearing aid, digital and analogue. Analogue aids use more traditional technology and many amplify all sounds by the same amount, which can make some sounds too loud. Digital technology can make the aid more flexible with more features than analogue aids. Typically digital aids amplify sounds in a more sophisticated way so all sounds remain comfortable. Almost all of the hearing aids supplied by The Hearing Care Centre are digital. Do I need one or two hearing aids? Experts agree that if you have a hearing loss in both ears you will get most benefit if you wear two hearing aids. Wearing two aids will help you to identify the direction that sounds are coming from and will reduce the time it takes to get used to wearing hearing aids. Click here for a printer friendly version. |
