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Activity Level
How active are you? Do you lead a quiet life or are you at your best when running from place to place? Do you engage in many social outings or stay primarily at home? Do you work outside of the home? How often are you in noisey places (restaurants, parties, meetings)?
The higher the activity level, the more important technology options become. A quiet individual who primarily stays at home with few social outlets probably does not need the most sophisticated circuitry. However, a busy individual with numerous communication demands will benefit from advanced features. Read on below for a description of different advanced features available in today's hearing technology.
Degree of Hearing Loss
The amount of hearing loss will determine the appropriate hearing aid size recommendation. Generally speaking, the milder the hearing loss, the smaller the hearing aid can be. Conversly, as hearing loss increases, the hearing aid size should also increase for for optimal hearing improvment.
When a person comes into our office dissatisfied with hearing aids purchased at another facility, we commonly find the size purchased was inappropriate. When hearing aids are too small for the hearing loss, a person often experiences one or more of the following problems: 1) feedback ("squeeling"), 2) poor overall hearing improvment, 3) poor overall sound quality, 4) poor performance in noisey places and 5) a "stuffy" head feeling.
One Hearing Aid or Two?
Do you have hearing loss in one ear, or both? Most people have hearing loss in both ears. If there is hearing loss in both ears, it is strongly recommended you consider wearing a hearing aid in both ears.
There are many reasons why this is recommended, and all are backed by clinical and lab studies. Check out our "1 vs. 2 Aids" tab for a detailed explaination of why two hearing aids are most always better than one.
Distortion of Hearing Nerve
Hearing loss may or may not be accompanied by distortion of speech signals. During your hearing evaluation, speech testing will be done to quantify the amount of distortion in the hearing nerve. Speech will be presented at a conversationally loud level, and your ability to repeat words correctly will be tabulated. This is quantified through a percentage score, with 100% the best and 0% the worst.
Your Physical Health
Any problems with vision or dexterity may limit your hearing aid options. You should consider the following when choosing hearing aid size:
*Do you have good vision with or without corrective lenses?
*Do Are you able to handle small objects (thread a needle?)
*Do you have arthritis in the hands/arms?
*Do your hands shake?
*Do you have limited mobility in arms/fingers?
*Do you have reduced sensation in fingers/hands?
As a general rule, if you have problems with vision and/or dexterity, larger hearing aid styles may be easier to handle.
Hearing Aid Style/Size
There are 6 styles/sizes of hearing aids. Pros and cons exist for all sizes.
Behind-the-Ear (BTE)
Full Shell/In-the-Ear (ITE)
1/2 Shell
In-the-Canal (ITC)
Completely-in-the-Canal (CIC)
Open Ear Style
Please reference our "Aid Styles" tab for detailed information and pictures of each style/size.
Directional Microphones (DM)
The #1 complaint of hearing aid users is hearing in noisy places, such as a restaurant or loud party. DMs are a must for hearing in a noisy environment. Devices with DM have more than one microphone, with one pointing in front of you and one pointing behind you. When in a loud place, the "directional," or "front," microphone will pick up sounds louder than the back microphone, helping you hear more of what you want to hear and less of what you don't. DM can be activated through a push button on the device, or can automatically activate when in the presence of noise. We stronly enourage ALL hearing aid wearers utilize a product with DM capabilities.
Noise Suppression
Digital chips have become very sophisticated. One of the sophistications is the ability to distinguish between "speech" and "non-speech" sounds. Speech sounds fluctuate and are modulated, where as non-speech sounds tend to have consistent characteristics (ie: fan, tires on the road, ect.) With noise suppression, the hearing aid separates "speech" from "non-speech" and reduces the "non-speech" signal to keep hearing in noisy places comfortable.
Hands-Free Operation
With recent advancements in hearing aid technology, devices have become "hands-free." Volume controls and push buttons are no longer necessary. The hearing aid can be programmed to work completely on its own without user manipulation. And the best news is this feature is now available at lower price points! Hands-free operation is a plus for all hearing aid users, but expecially for those with dexterity or memory issues.
Durability/Reliablility
Hearing aids are electronic, and sit inside or behind your ear. As a result, body chemistry acidity of the body, perspiration and earwax all affect the internal components. Therefore, repair of hearing aids is not uncommon. As a general rule, the larger the hearing aid, the less repair history. The behind-the-Ear (BTE) style has the least repairs, while the Completely-in-the-Canal (CIC) has the highest repair rate.
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