Hearing Loss

You may have questions about the extent of your hearing loss. Below you will find relevant information to help you determine your best option.

If you or a loved one is experiencing the following, you are not alone:

  • Tired and stressed from trying to hear
  • Believe that everyone mumbles
  • Find it easier to understand others when looking directly at people’s faces
  • Frequently ask others to repeat themselves
  • Have the television and radio volume on too load with others complaining
  • Have difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments

In America, about 32 million people (one in ten), experience hearing difficulty. Hearing impairment affects all ages but primarily two categories of the population. Baby boomers (aged 45-64 – about ten million), and over 60 years of age (about nine million) have experienced different extent of hearing loss. Unfortunately, only 6 million individuals in the U.S. utilize hearing aids, while 24 million who would be helped with a hearing aid do not take advantage of this opportunity.

CONSEQUENCE OF NOT TREATING HEARING LOSS

Not utilizing the latest technology, proficiency in testing to match the level of your hearing loss with a hearing aid device, may lead to:

  • Sadness and depression
  • Worry and anxiety
  • Paranoia
  • Social isolation
  • Emotional turmoil and insecurity

BENEFITS OF HEARING AID DEVICES

Individuals with hearing loss when treated with hearing aid devices, report:

  • Better relationships with family, friends, and colleagues
  • Better feeling about themselves
  • Improved mental health
  • Greater independence and security

WHY SOME POSTPONE GETTING HELP FROM HEARING AIDS

Amongst non users of hearing aids in need of a device, most common reasons cited include:

  • Don’t need a hearing aid
  • Can’t afford a hearing aid
  • Don’t have confidence in professionals who treat hearing loss
  • Don’t know if I can count on continued support of a dispenser
  • Have Stigma of wearing a hearing aid and concern about vanity

STYLES OF HEARING AIDS

With improved technology affecting the size and performance of hearing aids in the 21st Century, many of the concerns realized by the users of hearing aids are minimized or eliminated. Please refer to the “Products” section of this web site to distinguish between types of hearing aid accommodating:

  • Level of the impairment
  • Personal preference of the user (cosmetic)
  • Consideration of your listening environment
  • Budgetary consideration

WHAT CAN A HEARING PROFESSIONAL DO FOR YOU?

Hearing Aid Dispensers utilize procedures and complex equipment to test your hearing and evaluate your needs, and if necessary recommend a particular hearing aid. The hearing aid must be custom programmed through sophisticated computer programs to meet your physical and audiological needs. One of the most important steps is for a qualified dispenser to provide you with oral, written and at times computer software demonstration videos, as how to use, adjust, maintain and clean your hearing aid device.