The Benefits Of Combining Hearing Aids With Other Assistive Technologies

When you experience hearing loss, it can have a significant effect on your life. Hearing loss is the most common sensory problem. Any hearing loss can affect your ability to communicate and hear the world around you and even, to some extent, affect your physical health. People living with hearing loss can, over time, experience loss of coordination, balance and lower activity levels. Hearing loss can also significantly affect mental health, causing increased rates of depression, low self-esteem and anxiety.

However, getting a hearing test and talking to an audiologist can help you to get the proper treatment for your hearing loss and help you overcome any challenges you might be facing in your life. Hearing aids are commonly used to help people regain some level of hearing. Hearing aids convert sound waves through an amplifier which increases the power of the signals received. These signals are then passed through a speaker into the ear.

Hearing aids come in a variety of different styles and can have a range of capabilities thanks to modern technology. But hearing aids aren’t the only devices on the market for those with hearing loss. While hearing aids go a long way to restoring some level of hearing loss, different situations may require more support and this is where assistive listening devices come into play. Assistive listening devices can work in association with hearing aids to give the user a better experience and higher level of hearing to help them live their life and not miss out on anything.

What Are Assistive Listening Devices?

Assistive listening devices work to amplify sounds, reduce background noise and help hearing aid wearers to hear sounds better. There are several types of assistive listening devices for a range of scenarios. For example, some are smaller and for personal use, such as at home to hear the telephone ring others are designed for larger spaces such as classrooms and theatres and some work best in noisy surroundings such as retail spaces. What they all have in common is that they are designed to work in conjunction with hearing aids for the best possible experience.

The Benefits of Using Assistive Technologies with Hearing Aids

Assistive technologies use a range of different technologies to amplify sounds. These technologies include:

• Frequency modulated (FM) radio waves: Most commonly used in classrooms. The teacher will wear a small microphone, while the students will wear a receiver.
• Infrared systems: Much like FM technology, the user will wear a receiver that converts light signals and decodes them. Particularly useful for areas where sensitive information is being discussed.
• Personal amplifiers: Typically used in home environments, and the device will likely have a direction microphone you can direct to the sound source and amplify the sound coming from that source while decreasing background noise.
• Bluetooth transmits sounds through Wi-fi.
• Induction or hearing loss: Hearing wearers must switch their hearing aids to the telecoil program to take advantage of reduced background sounds and increased amplification within the loop area.

There are many benefits to using this technology in association with hearing aids. Many modern hearing aids will be designed to work together with assistive technology to enhance the hearing experience. Benefits include being able to hear sounds you might not hear with your hearing aid alone or at all, minimizing background noise for a higher quality of sound and an overall better experience in different locations and generally hard-to-hear areas

All assistive listening devices are set up to work with hearing aids, and to benefit from the compatibility; all you need to do is ensure your hearing aids are in the right setting to receive the signals coming through from the transmitter. This can be through a setting on the hearing aid itself or using an additional device to connect your hearing aid.

Learn More About Hearing Aids and Assistive Listening Devices

As technology advances, so do the capabilities of hearing aids and assistive listening devices. Talking to your audiologist can help you to find the proper hearing aids for your hearing loss and how you can pair them with assistive listening devices for a better experience and quality of sound. Our highly skilled audiologists are on hand to talk you through your options and what is available to you. All you need to do is contact us at Quality Hearing & Audiology Center. Call us today at (816) 205-7220, and our friendly team will be on hand to help you with any queries.