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Hearing Aids |
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FAQs
What Is a Hearing Aid?
How Common Is Hearing Loss and What Causes It?
How Do We Hear?
Sound waves enter the outer ear (pinna) and travel through a narrow tube (ear canal) that leads inside the ear to the eardrum (tympanic membrane). The eardrum vibrates from the incoming sound waves and transmits these vibrations through three tiny bones called the ossicles (the malleus, incus, and stapes) in the middle ear. They amplify the sound and send it through the entrance to the inner ear (oval window) and into the fluid-filled hearing organ (cochlea). The vibrations create ripples in the fluid that bend projections from tiny hair cells in the cochlea, causing electrical impulses that the auditory nerve, or eighth cranial nerve, sends to the brain. The brain translates these impulses into what we experience as sound. There are different types of hearing loss. Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound waves are prevented from passing to the inner ear. This can be caused by a variety of problems including buildup of earwax (cerumen), infection, fluid in the middle ear (ear infection or otitis media), or a punctured eardrum. Sensorineural (nerve) hearing loss develops when the auditory nerve or hair cells in the inner ear are damaged by aging, noise, illness, injury, infection, head trauma, toxic medications, or an inherited condition. Mixed hearing loss is a combination of both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. A conductive hearing loss can often be corrected with medical or surgical treatment, while sensorineural hearing loss usually cannot be reversed. People with hearing loss may experience some or all of the following problems:
How Can Hearing Aids Help? On the basis of the hearing test results, the audiologist can determine whether hearing aids will help. Hearing aids are particularly useful in improving the hearing and speech comprehension of people with sensorineural hearing loss. When choosing a hearing aid, the audiologist will consider your hearing ability, work and home activities, physical limitations, medical conditions, and cosmetic preferences. For many people, cost is also an important factor. You and your audiologist must decide whether one or two hearing aids will be best for you. Wearing two hearing aids may help balance sounds, improve your understanding of words in noisy situations, and make it easier to locate the source of sounds.
Can Hearing Aids Help with High-Frequency Hearing Loss? High frequency hearing loss is the most common type of hearing loss today. With advances in microcomputer technology, high frequency hearing loss can be treated with great success. "I hear, but I don't understand." This is a common complaint of many people suffering from high-frequency hearing loss. The exception lies in the nature of sound. Only 5% of the energy of speech is in the high frequencies, but 60% of the sounds needed for speech understanding (consonant sounds) are located in the high frequencies. Those suffering high-frequency hearing loss miss these important speech cues, and thus have difficulty with speech recognition. Because high-frequency hearing loss most often occurs gradually over a long period of time, many people are unaware that their hearing has changed. They have grown accustomed to their loss and perceived it as "normal". Initially, many patients describe the amplified sound from their hearing aids as "unnatural". After an adjustment period (about 1-2 months), they describe their hearing as greatly improved. Consider this: when you throw open a window shade in the morning after being in the dark all night, it takes a moment for your eyes to adapt. Likewise, a high-frequency emphasizing hearing aid may take some adjustment time. When it comes to successful fitting of high-frequency hearing loss, it is often essential to fit hearing instruments in both ears (a binaural fit). Fitting binaurally when there is a loss in both ears can improve discrimination of important speech cues when noise is present and can also improve localization skills. Just as every patient is unique, so is every hearing aid fitting. It is common that your hearing aids may need adjustments or re-programming before they perform up to your potential. Experience has shown that with proper counseling from your audiologist, minor adjustments from our service and with practice on your part, most high-frequency hearing losses can be successfully fit. Do I need Programmable Hearing Aids? One of the most exciting developments of the past several years is the programmable hearing aid. Unlike standard hearing aids, which arrive preset from the factory/manufacturer, programmable hearing aids can be computer adjusted/programmed at our office. We do this by plugging the hearing aids in to the computer using specialized software designed to send instructions to a tiny computer chip in the hearing aid ... telling it how to operate to best meet your needs. Programmable hearing aids are now available in behind-the-ear and in-the ear / in-the-canal styles. You do have some choice of style depending upon the degree of your hearing loss. The newest types of programmable hearing aids are 100% digital. Just like CD and other music formats have been for several years. This technology has been miniaturized to fit into small hearing aids. Programmable hearing aids offer advantages over conventional devices: better sound quality, flexibility and better clarity of speech because they are custom programmed to your hearing loss. The programs can be changed an infinite number of times either because your hearing has changed or the environments you are in are changing. For example, you hear better in a quiet room, but if you go out to a restaurant you will have more difficulty. Your hearing loss has not changed, just your ability to hear well in a poor acoustic environment. Programmable devices can address environmental problems as well as hearing loss. In multiple memory programmable devices, we give you a program for quiet listening and one for noisy listening. You decide when and where you use either program.
Will a hearing aid help my tinnitus? If you have a hearing loss, there is a good chance that a hearing aid will both relieve your tinnitus and help you hear. Contact an ASHA certified audiologist to determine if you will benefit from using a hearing aid. The audiologist can assist with the selection, fitting and purchase of the most appropriate aid and help with training to use the aid effective. What Can I Expect From My Hearing Aids? Using hearing aids successfully takes time and patience. Hearing aids will not restore normal hearing or eliminate background noise. Adjusting to a hearing aid is a gradual process that involves learning to listen in a variety of environments and becoming accustomed to hearing different sounds. Try to become familiar with hearing aids under nonstressful circumstances a few hours at a time. Programs are available to help users master new listening techniques and develop skills to manage hearing loss. Contact your audiologist for further information about programs that may suit your individual needs. What Questions Should I Ask Before Buying Hearing Aids? Before you buy a hearing aid, ask your audiologist these important questions:
What Problems Might I Experience While Adjusting to My Hearing Aids? Become familiar with your hearing aid. Your audiologist will teach you to use and care for your hearing aids. Also, be sure to practice putting in and taking out the aids, adjusting volume control, cleaning, identifying right and left aids, and replacing the batteries with the audiologist present. The hearing aids may be uncomfortable. Ask the audiologist how long you should wear your hearing aids during the adjustment period. Also, ask how to test them in situations where you have problems hearing, and how to adjust the volume and/or program for sounds that are too loud or too soft. Your own voice may sound too loud. This is called the occlusion effect and is very common for new hearing aid users. Your audiologist may or may not be able to correct this problem; however, most people get used to it over time. Your hearing aid may "whistle." When this happens, you are experiencing feedback, which is caused by the fit of the hearing aid or by the buildup of earwax or fluid. See your audiologist for adjustments. You may hear background noise. Keep in mind that a hearing aid does not completely separate the sounds you want to hear from the ones you do not want to hear, but there may also be a problem with the hearing aid. Discuss this with your audiologist. What Are Some Tips for Taking Care of My Hearing Aids? The following suggestions will help you care for your hearing aids:
Where Can I Donate my Used Hearing Aids? To Donate Your Hearing Aids please visit this site: http://deafness.about.com/cs/hoth/a/recycleaids.htm Where Can I Get Additional Information?
Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf (AGBell) American Academy of Audiology (AAA)
American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS)
American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Disability Initiative
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
Better Hearing Institute (BHI)
Hear Now
Hearing Industries Association (HIA)
Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. (SHHH) References Excerpts from May 1999, NIH Pub. No. 99-4340
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