FAQ's
Most people have hearing loss that changes for different sounds. You might hear a low pitched “O” sound just fine, but a high pitched “S” sound may not be heard. When this happens, you miss parts of words, not whole words or sentences. If your brain doesn’t have enough other information to fill in the missing pieces, then you won’t understand what was said or hear the wrong thing.
Possible but unlikely. While impacted earwax will decrease hearing sensitivity, it is usually only noticeable when it is exacerbating an underlying hearing loss. We will ensure that a wax blockage is not contributing to hearing loss during your initial visit and hearing test.
Tinnitus is not fully understood. For most cases of tinnitus there is no “cure” but it can be treated to help reduce the annoyance or your perception of the tinnitus. In many cases the same nerve damage that is causing hearing loss may also be causing tinnitus. Things like diet, stress, medication, sleep may affect how bad the tinnitus sounds on a given day. When we treat hearing loss with amplification most patients notice their tinnitus doesn’t seem as bad or noticeable. Hearing devices also have maskers built into them that can be used in certain situations. Most people notice a lessening of their tinnitus, some don’t notice any change, and a few people have told me they don’t notice their tinnitus at all anymore.
Hearing devices are sophisticated pieces of technology that need to be programmed properly for each individual. This happens in the selection process of the device and even more so in the fitting and aftercare. The hearing aid will be adapted to take into account the acoustics in your ear canal rather than guessing from an “average” ear. Fitting a hearing device is one part science, one part art, and one part physical therapy. I will properly program the initial fit, take into account your personal sound preferences, and push you to get used to certain new things that will give you the best speech understanding long term even if it isn’t what you might choose at first glance.
My schooling and 12+ years of experience have helped me hone the skills necessary to adapt to each individual’s needs. You may be paying for a hearing device but you are also paying for the skill and knowledge needed to properly fit them and help you through an adjustment period. Plus, you have a no-cost expert to rely on if the hearing device needs servicing.
My schooling and 12+ years of experience have helped me hone the skills necessary to adapt to each individual’s needs. You may be paying for a hearing device but you are also paying for the skill and knowledge needed to properly fit them and help you through an adjustment period. Plus, you have a no-cost expert to rely on if the hearing device needs servicing.
No. A properly programmed hearing aid will not cause a worsening of hearing. In fact, studies show hearing aid wearers retain better speech understanding long term when compared with individuals with untreated hearing loss. The sooner a hearing loss is treated, the better speech understanding will remain. In rare cases of severely profound hearing loss, it is necessary to set a hearing aid to potentially damaging levels and a discussion would be had explaining pros and cons prior to fitting.
Most hearing loss is related to genetics, aging, and noise exposure. Things like medication, head trauma, disease or infection, and congenital factors can also cause hearing loss. According to the National Institute of Health about 1 in 8 people over the age of 12 has hearing loss. In the 55-64 age range, 8.5% of people have what would be considered a “disabling hearing loss”. Most hearing loss is not reversible so it is important to take care of our hearing from a young age.