4 FAQs About Hearing Aid Features

Millions of people in the US live with some level of hearing loss and a large proportion of them use hearing aids to address this. If your hearing health professional has recommended a hearing aid for you, then you may have a lot of questions about how to use it, the features it has and the maintenance of your hearing aid. Here are four common questions that hearing health professionals are asked about hearing aids.

How do Hearing Aids Work?

There are a variety of styles of hearing aid. These include:

• In the ear (ITE): Worn in the outer bowl. These are usually custom-fit and can vary in size and color
• Behind the ear (BTE): They are placed behind or on top of the ear. A tube reaches over the ear and into the ear canal to transmit sound
• In the canal (ITC): Placed in the ear canal. They are often fitted with additional controls such as volume.

While each type of hearing aid works slightly differently, the concept is the same. A microphone picks up the sound, processes it, and then transmits this sound to the earpiece. Some makes have extra microphones and noise reduction for crystal clear sound.

Can I Connect My Hearing Aid to Bluetooth Devices?

Technology in hearing aids has come to a point where they are now Bluetooth enabled. This allows them to integrate with other Bluetooth-equipped multimedia devices including your smartphone, TV and MP3 player. Not only is this great for convenience, but also gives fantastic sound quality too.

How Do I Look After My Hearing Aids?

When you are fitted for your hearing aid, your hearing health professional will show you how everything works and also how to look after your hearing aid. They’ll take you through how to handle and store them so that they aren’t damaged. They’ll also show you how to clean them to keep the sound quality at a high level. Buildup of wax and debris can compromise the hearing aid.

Which Style of Hearing Aid Is the Best?

As mentioned earlier, there are a number of different styles of hearing aid. There’s no one definitive answer to which is the best. What works for one person might not be right for another. In order to get the perfect hearing aid for you, your hearing health professional will take the time to get to know about your lifestyle and hobbies. They will then recommend the hearing aid that is right for you. There are many additional features you can look at including tinnitus reduction, feedback suppression, telecoil functionality and pre-set programs. If your healing health professional recommends that you get a hearing aid, it’s perfectly natural that you will have many questions, especially if you’ve never known anyone who uses a hearing aid. They are fully experienced and able to answer your questions, no matter how insignificant you think they might be. Write down any questions you have and take them to your appointment so that you don’t forget them.