By Sarah Lundstrom, Au.D.
After your hearing exam, your hearing care provider will discuss your results, your personal listening goals, and your lifestyle, in order to help you select the best treatment plan, if hearing aids are needed.
Getting hearing aids is a big step, and a worthy investment in your quality of life. The first step after choosing which brand, style, and cost work best for you, is to have them programmed and customized to your hearing. Most hearing aids come with a trial period, so be sure to wear your hearing aids often and in a variety of listening environments, and to talk to your provider about optimizing your hearing.
After that, you may be thinking you are done, now that you are hearing well again, but the process doesn't stop there. It is important to continue to check in with your audiologist for routine maintenance on your hearing aids and to monitor your hearing loss.
Get Regular Follow-Up Care
Hearing aids are delicate devices using advanced technology that need to be maintained and serviced regularly to ensure they are working effectively. A checkup can detect issues with the hearing aid's components and prevent further damage.
Part of routine maintenance is annual testing of your hearing and your hearing aid. Your hearing ability can change over time, so a hearing aid checkup can ensure that the hearing aid is still providing the right level of amplification.
A hearing aid checkup can provide an opportunity to discuss any new hearing concerns with a professional and receive advice on how to manage them. Your provider may also discuss improvements in technology or additional ways to help you achieve your hearing goals.
Your lifestyle, hearing needs, and technology can change. A checkup helps ensure you are getting the most from your hearing treatment. Services may be included with your hearing aid plan, so take advantage of your treatment plan and utilize continued care and maintenance appointments.
Hearing Aid Accessories
Hearing aids are equipped with a variety of technology and features to help the wearer overcome various listening environments. Many hearing aids offer the option to create program settings customized for the wearer that can help in specific environments.
But in some cases the wearer needs to utilize a hearing aid accessory in order to get the best hearing in a given situation. These are usually separate products that work with your hearing aid to enhance the function or improve the listening experience.
Most current hearing aids partner with these accessories wirelessly using Bluetooth technology. If you have a hearing aid that is not Bluetooth capable, you may still be able to use certain accessories but will be subject to some technological limitations.
Telecoils and Hearing Loops
Telecoils are tiny copper receivers in hearing aids (and also cochlear implant processors). Most hearing aid models have, or can be fitted with, these T-coils, though sometimes the very smallest devices do not have them. Ask your hearing care provider to be sure.
The advantage of a T-coil is that when it is switched on, it can pick up the audio from a hearing loop, which is a wire that surrounds a specific area and connects to a sound source. The loop emits the sound signal that the T-coil picks up, allowing you to hear directly in your ear via your hearing aid. Typical looped places include meeting halls, places of worship, theaters, airports, even taxis.
TV Streamers
A TV streamer will transmit the TV audio directly to your hearing aids, which are already optimized for your hearing. Credit: @kovah/Unsplash
Many people, even with typical hearing, feel that TV shows can be difficult to hear clearly. Accents, background audio, or soft speech can make you feel like you are working hard to understand the conversations.
A TV streamer will transmit the TV audio directly to your hearing aids, which are already optimized for your hearing. This improves the sound quality, reduces listening effort, and gives you more control of the volume of the TV—in fact, your TV viewing partner can then lower the TV volume to where it is comfortable to them, without worrying if you can still hear.
Cell Phones
Cell phones can have a variety of functions to help your hearing. Bluetooth streaming for phone calls or phone audio, such as music or audiobooks, can help you hear more clearly and make wearing hearing aids like using ear buds.
Another useful feature with cell phones is the hearing aid app specific to the hearing aid manufacturer. Most companies have an app you can download that allows you to easily change the volume or program settings. They may also allow you to create custom programs for various listening environments, or have GPS tracking to prevent loss of the hearing aids. These apps make hearing aids more user-friendly and personalized to optimize your listening experience in different settings.
Remote Microphones
A remote microphone can help you better hear over background noise or at a distance. The hearing aid wearer can give the microphone to another speaker in order to hear that voice more clearly. Remote microphones are useful at a lecture, meeting, or gathering where there is one speaker who may be farther away or more difficult to hear. It can also help in a restaurant or other noisy environment where you want to hear one person or a small group of people over the background noise.
If you feel like there are situations where your hearing aids need customization or are just not enough, consider an accessory. Speak to your hearing care provider about options for your listening needs.
Sarah Lundstrom, Au.D., is an audiologist at HearCare Audiology in Sarasota, Florida.
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