3 Things to Ask Your Audiologist about Hearing Aids

If you’re experiencing hearing loss of any kind, your first course of action is to see your audiologist as soon as possible. Your audiologist will help you know the type and degree of your hearing loss by conducting a comprehensive evaluation of your hearing health. This evaluation will also enable them to identify or detect any other possible condition related to or affecting your hearing.

Once this evaluation is complete, your treatment follows. Many audiologists treat hearing loss issues with hearing aids. While hearing aids may not automatically improve your residual hearing, they help amplify the sounds your ears receive to allow you to hear better. But it is important to know if hearing aids are the right solutions for your hearing loss, and the best way to find out is by asking the following questions when you visit an audiologist.

How do Hearing Aids Help Hearing Loss?

People experience hearing loss for several reasons. The hearing loss process happens naturally for many aging adults, and the condition usually appears to decline with time. Age-related hearing loss and other health conditions that affect hearing are the most common causes of hearing loss among aging adults. With the younger generation, the most common cause is being exposed to loud sounds regularly.

Although using hearing aids should help you notice a significant improvement in your hearing, some people will likely get more benefits from them than others. In other words, hearing aids may prove more helpful for some people than for others, depending on the cause and degree of the hearing loss.

Knowing this, it is understandable to ask your audiologist whether or not they’re convinced using hearing aids will be helpful in your condition. Your audiologist might end up prescribing a more effective treatment for your hearing problem. But if your audiologist believes you need hearing aids, you can go on and find out from them how the hearing aids will work in your case to improve your hearing.

What are the Types of Hearing Aids?

After your audiologist explains how hearing aids work and their application to your hearing issue, you need to find out what type of hearing aid you should get. Hearing aid technology has gone through massive improvements, and today, you’ll find various types and styles that offer different features for your specific hearing loss issue.

For example, you’ll find hearing aid styles like in the ear (ITE), behind the ear (BTE) and in the canal (ITC). If you don’t have enough information about any of the hearing aid styles or types available, making the right decision can be a bit difficult. And that’s why it is important to ask your audiologist what type of hearing aids you should get.

When selecting hearing aid styles, you may want to consider other factors, including ease of handling as well as discreetness. If you are looking for something that is nearly invisible, you may want to look into canal-worn options, like ITC, invisible in canal (IIC) or completely in canal (CIC). However, if you have issues handling small items with tiny buttons, a medium or slightly larger style like ITE and BTE may be better for you when changing batteries and cleaning your hearing aids.

After assessing your hearing health, your audiologist should be able to recommend the most beneficial hearing aid styles for your particular needs, taking into consideration your level of hearing loss and aesthetic preferences. It also helps to learn from your audiologist how best to use the hearing aid, what maintenance steps you should follow and what dos and don’ts you need to know about.

What Else Should I Consider?

In addition to considering hearing aid styles and how they’ll help your specific hearing loss, you also want to consider features they can be equipped with. There are a wide range of features available, including:

• Bluetooth
• Remote controls
• Multisettings
• Directional microphones
• Noise reduction

What features you should equip your hearing aids with will depend largely on how severe your hearing loss is, what model you opt for and what you hope to get out of the experience. For individuals looking for something more tech-savvy, they may want to opt for Bluetooth controls, which enables wearers to connect their devices with compatible technology.

Visit us today

At Quality Hearing & Audiology Center, we offer you the best hearing services that meet your needs. You can call us now on this phone number: (816) 205-7220, to learn more about how we can help your hearing health.