People from all over the world suffer from severe hearing loss. Many of them decide that the best thing that they can do is to get some form of aid through hearing devices. However, there are still many people who do not understand why you cannot just go into a pharmacy, pick a hearing aid from the shelf, and plug it into your ear for superior hearing. In this article we will take a closer look at the ways that people who suffer from hearing loss benefit from having a hearing aid that is programmed for them.
What Factors Can Be Adjusted?
One of the things that many people ask their audiologist to change first is the devices’ ability to filter out background sounds that make it tough to hear the important sounds. Remember that not every one of the hearing aids has the ability to affect the outcomes on all aspects of hearing. However, the ones that most every device can change are volume, frequency, microphone pick-up, compression ratios, and the sound intensity. Together, these can all have a profound impact on your ability to hear.
Processing Time
Most of the hearing aids that are on the market today dwarf the older models. In the past, there was no way for you to go about adjusting your hearing aid unless you happened to be particularly crafty with a screwdriver. Now, there are over a hundred ways that a basic digital hearing aid can be adjusted to meet all of your needs. Of course, this requires you to pay a visit to your audiologist. They will run you through a series of tests which are meant to reveal your hearing strengths and weaknesses. They will be able to find the best way to adjust your hearing aid to optimize your hearing. Even after you are finished your hearing tests, you may need to go back to the hearing instrument specialist because your brain can adjust and overcompensate for the new sounds that are occurring. When this happens, it is important to remember the benefits that go along with the initial inconvenience.
Programming Hearing Aids
Many people are concerned about the different methods that hearing aid programmers can use when they are seeking to help with your hearing aid. While it is true that their methods vary, they typically look for two different things; how your brain is processing the sound and how your eardrum is picking up the sound in the environment. You can use a real-ear probe to discover how sound strikes the eardrum. And then follow this up with visual mapping to find out the problems in the way that the brain is picking up these sounds. Once all of the problems have been located and figured out, there are chances for them to program the hearing aid to make up for the deficiencies that you have in your hearing. It is important that people realize that they should not be attempting to perform this programming on their own. While it is possible to program your own hearing aid, it is crucial that you have the background knowledge that only a hearing instrument specialist can bring.