If you’ve been diagnosed with hearing loss, a hearing aid is perhaps one of the most well-known treatment options. Your audiologist will recommend the right hearing device for you depending on the severity of your hearing loss and your individual needs. After the right hearing device has been identified, you’ll need to have it properly fitted by an audiologist.
An audiologist will also tune the device and guide you on how to use it, in addition to making sure it fits your ears correctly.
The Benefits of Using a Hearing Aid
Hearing aids come in a variety of shapes and sizes, such as in the ear (ITE), behind the ear (BTE) and in the canal (ITC), but they all generally function in the same way. They pick up noises with microphones and digitally adjust the sounds.
Your hearing aids will be custom programmed to match your hearing test results.
Hearing aids can be used to:
- Make it easier to hear quieter sounds.
- Make loud noises more bearable.
- Make it easier to hear on the phone.
- Make it easier to enjoy music, TV and radio.
- Reduce the amount of noise in the background.
In addition to being able to support you with hearing, they can support you in other ways.
Communicate Better
When you don’t receive treatment for hearing loss it can make the process of being able to communicate effectively challenging. When you hear others there is the risk of mishearing or requiring them to repeat themselves. People who leave their hearing loss untreated can find themselves becoming socially isolated. With the use of a hearing aid, you can improve the ability to hear and enable easier and clearer communication to follow.
Increased Energy Levels
Fatigue and exhaustion are a side effect of hearing loss. Without realizing you will find that you are having to work your brain harder to allow it to interpret the sounds and noises. As your hearing and brain are closely connected, once you take the step and use hearing aids, your brain won’t need to work as hard to process the sounds, resulting in gaining more energy.
Increased Confidence
Once you have the faith in being able to communicate better and have a boost of energy levels, you will find yourself becoming more and more confident. Re-gaining your hearing capacity is empowering and will allow you to make changes to better your life going forward. People you use hearing aids for their hearing loss are more likely to maintain and build their relationships, have confidence at work and potentially allow themselves higher earning potential.
Tenderness Or Pain
It can be common while you adjust to a new hearing aid, to have some slight and minor discomfort during the first day or so. This can be associated with where the hearing aid gets attached to your ear. If you develop a sore or tender spot where the hearing aid rests or if the discomfort is more than minor or lasts past a few days, it can be a sign that the hearing isn’t fitted correctly or there is a problem with the shape of your earmold and needs to be assessed by an audiologist.
Issues with the Volume
During the first few days of having a new hearing aid fitted, it can take a little while to adjust to the changes in volume. A common complaint is that they can sound too loud or quiet. During the first few days, this is normal as it takes a couple of days for you to adjust to the new sound settings. Once adjusted you will find that in the majority of instances the problem goes away on its own.
If, however, they are still causing discomfort or bothering you after a few days, it can be a sign that they may need reprogramming. Taking them back to your audiologist to discuss the problem will allow them to assess the issue and get it fixed.
A Constant Whistling Sound
When a hearing aid mold is not correctly fitted it can cause some of the noise to escape and then the hearing aid hears this noise once more and re-amplifies it. Creating this loop of noise. It is through this continual loop or unwanted sounds being heard that can cause this whistling noise, sometimes also thought to sound like chirping, to be heard.
To learn more about Allison Audiology & Hearing Aid Center, P.C. call us today at Houston: 713-827-1767
