FAQ's

How do I determine if I am a candidate for a hearing aid?

Following completion of our short questionnaire, a licensed Hearing Healthcare Professional will discuss the procedure which includes conducting different hearing tests utilizing our state-of-art equipment and facilities. Based on the results from your tests, and considering you do not have a medical problem we shall recommend a hearing aid solution which caters to your hearing needs, cosmetic appeal, and financial considerations.

What should users of new hearing aids realistically expect?

When wearing hearing aids:

  • Your hearing in quiet environments (one to one communication, watching TV, etc) should be improved.
  • Your hearing in moderate background noise should be improved.
  • Soft speech should be audible, average speech should be comfortable; loud speech should be loud, but never uncomfortable.
  • Your ear molds should be comfortable.
  • Your own voice should be "acceptable" to you.
  • There should be no feedback when the hearing aids are properly seated in your ears.

When ready to purchase my hearing aid, how long will it take for me to receive it?

Delivery of your new hearing aid depends on the severity of your hearing loss. Some hearing aids could be fitted on the same day, while the custom hearing aids will take up to two weeks time.

Do I have to return to the Hearing Aid Center for adjustments of my new hearing aid?

Our CARE POLICY includes contacting you 60 days from your fitting for a complimentary appointment. Thorough cleaning, adjustment and refitting (if necessary) will be made at that time. However, once a client fitted with our hearing aids, you will receive COMPLIMENTARY SERVICE as long as you maintain your hearing aid. We shall strive to serve you as your hearing aid specialist.

How much support and service will I receive after my fitting?

With Clear Choice Hearing Aid, you shall receive FREE lifetime service and support on your hearing aid device.

What are some of the most common hearing aid cleaning tips?

  • Keep hearing aids away from heat, moisture, and water.
  • Replace dead batteries immediately.
  • Clean hearing aids as instructed
  • Do not use hairspray or other hair care products while wearing hearing aids.
  • Turn off hearing aids when they are not in use.
  • Keep replacement batteries and small aids away from children and pets.

Is it really necessary to wear two hearing aids? Can I get by with one?

There are four main reasons why binaural (two eared) listening is superior to monaural (one eared) listening. They are:

1. Better Hearing in Noise: An individual's hearing in noise can be improved if the signal reaching each ear arrives at a slightly different moment in time. This is technically referred to as phase. When the brain receives slightly different, yet still audible signals at the two ears, it has the ability to cross-correlate and process the primary signal (usually speech) better than if the signal is received monaurally.

2. Improved Signal versus Noise Level from Optimizing Position: Sound loses intensity (loudness) when it travels across the head. This occurs mostly for the high frequencies which are the most important for understanding of consonants, such as /s/, /t/, /f/, and /sh/. If you have a hearing aid on only one ear, say the left one; and the person you wish to hear is speaking to you from the right side, the consonants may be decreased by nearly 20 decibels by the time it gets to your aided ear. Unfortunately, noise in the room may occur from any or all directions, so while the noise level is not decreased, the speech level is. Wearing two hearing aids ensures that the speech sounds will not be diminished any more than necessary because of your position in the room.

3. Improved Localization Ability: We determine where a sound is coming from on the basis of 1) the relative time in which the sound arrives at each ear, 2) the relative difference in loudness at the two ears, and 3) the relative difference in the pitch of the sound at the two ears. When there is a large difference in hearing between two ears (as might occur when a person with similar hearing in both ears only wears one hearing aid) the brain cannot make use of these subtle relative differences and their ability to locate sounds may suffer.

4. Possible Deterioration of the Unaided Ear: We hear in our brain, not in our ears. The ultimate goal of hearing aids is not just to send sound into the ear. It is also essential to retrain the central auditory system in the brain. While it is uncertain whether hearing sensitivity (ability to hear soft sounds) will decrease if your ear is not stimulated adequately, research now suggests that there can be changes in the way in which your brain processes sound when it is "starved." Thus, providing stimulation may be important in preserving your auditory potential.

Can hearing aids help with buzzing or ringing in the ears?

Millions of people are afflicted with this annoying condition called tinnitus. Its severity can differ from person to person. There is no known cure for tinnitus. Hearing aids don't truly stop the ringing. However, many people find relief from the constant presence of tinnitus sounds through the use of hearing aids. It basically masks over the sounds you have in your hearing system, making them less noticeable. Hearing aids should also help quite a bit in clarifying conversation, making a person better able to socialize and communicate with others. There is no guarantee as to individual results for tinnitus relief through hearing aids, but chances are very good there would be favorable results.

How do over the ear models work with a person that wears glasses?

In almost all cases, BTE (behind-the-ear) aids work extremely well with people wearing glasses. There are millions of people in the world who use BTE aids, and an educated guess is that 90% of those people wear glasses at the same time. Most modern BTE aids are slim enough, together with more modern, slender frames for glasses, to allow for both to be comfortably used together.

How does my hearing aid work with my cell phone?

Since many cell phones do not have the proper compatibility of connecting to a T-coil which can be installed into hearing aids (making an electronic connection with land-line type of phones), you might want to consider getting a programmable hearing aid with a situation button. One of the programs we can install into such a programmable aid would be called the "acoustic phone" program. This would be designed for use where the user should be able to put any type of phone up to their ear and not have an excessive amount of feedback. The other thing you can do is check with your cell phone provider to obtain a hearing-aid-compatible model of cell phone. Then virtually any hearing aid can be fitted with a T-coil, and you would be 100% assured you'd never have feedback when using the phone.

How often must hearing aids be replaced?

Generally speaking, hearing aids should last for at least five years. The need for new hearing aids may occur if a patient's hearing status changes, but with the availability of programmable and digital hearing aids, changes can be made in the Hearing Health Professional's office and should reduce the need to order new hearing aids merely because of changes in hearing status.