Ever wish you could get the inside scoop on what hearing aids are actually like? What would your best friend say if you asked honest questions about what hearing aids sound like, what it feels like, and how they really feel about using one? Here’s a description of what hearing aids are like, but if you really want to understand, come see us for a demo.
1. Hearing Aids Occasionally Have Feedback
No, not the type you may get on a work evaluation. “Feedback “ is a high-pitched noise that a speaker makes when its microphone picks up the sound coming from the speaker. It causes a sound loop that even modern speakers like the ones in hearing aids don’t know what to do with.
They might squeal like a speaker in the school auditorium just before the principal speaks.
Though this can be unpleasant, when hearing aids are properly tuned, it’s rare. If you’re encountering it, the earmold may not be correctly fitted or you need to replace it.
Feedback can be eliminated, in some more advanced hearing aids, by a built-in feedback cancellation system.
2. Conversations Are Easier to Hear in a Loud Setting
If you suffer from untreated hearing loss, eating dinner with your family or friends in a loud restaurant can seem like you’re eating by yourself. It’s almost impossible to follow the conversations. You might wind up sitting there, nodding and smiling most of the night.
But hearing aids nowadays have some really sophisticated technology that can cancel out background noise. The voices of your family and the wait staff become crystal clear.
3. Sometimes it Gets a Little Sticky
When something is not right, your body has a way of reacting to it. If you eat something overly spicy hot, you secrete more saliva to rinse it out. You will make tears if something gets in your eye. Your ears have their own way of eliminating a nuisance.
They create extra wax.
Due to this, earwax buildup can occasionally be a problem for people who use hearing aids. It’s only wax, luckily, so cleaning it isn’t an issue. (We can help you learn how.)
Once you’re finished the cleaning you’re quickly back to good hearing.
4. There Are Advantages For Your Brain
This one may surprise you. If someone starts to develop hearing loss it will slowly affect brain function as it progresses.
Accurately understanding what people are saying is one of the first things to go. Problem solving, learning new things, and memory will then become a big challenge.
This brain atrophy can be slowed by using hearing aids as soon as you can. They re-train your brain. They can decrease and even reverse mental decline according to many studies. As a matter of fact, 80% of individuals had increased brain function, according to research conducted by the AARP, after using hearing aids to treat their hearing loss.
5. You Have to Replace The Batteries
Those little button batteries can be a little challenging to manage. And they seem to die at the worst times, like when you’re about to find out “whodunnit” in a mystery movie, or just as your friend is telling you the juicy particulars of a story.
But most of the perceived difficulties with these batteries can be easily resolved. There are strategies you can use to greatly increase battery life. The batteries are small and inexpensive, so it’s easy to carry an extra set in your wallet.
Or, nowadays you can purchase rechargeable hearing aids. Just place it on the charger when you go to bed. In the morning, just put them back on. There are also solar-powered hearing aid docks so you can even recharge your hearing aid while out camping, fishing, or hiking.
6. There’s a Learning Curve
Nowadays, hearing aids have advanced technology. It’s much simpler than learning to use a computer for the first time. But adjusting to your new hearing aids will definitely take a little time.
The longer and more routinely you wear hearing aids the better it gets. During this adjustment period, try to be patient with yourself and your new hearing aids.
Individuals who have stayed the course and used their hearing aids for six months or more typically will say it’s all worth it.
Only actually wearing hearing aids can give you the experiencing of what they’re really like. If you want to figure it out, contact us.
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References
https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-07-2013/hearing-loss-linked-to-dementia.html