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Don’t Let Fear Gets In The Way Of Good Hearing

The struggle to hear is real.

The current pandemic makes people more acutely aware of the importance of good hearing and urgency of managing it. During this lockdown period, many of us can only communicate with our parents through phone calls and if possible, FaceTime. Watching TV or YouTube clips through mobile phone has become the current favorite pastime activity of many, young and old. However, without good hearing, performing these activities can be challenging and stressful at the same time.

Hearing loss affects all age groups. Working from home or home based learning are our new norms for work, study.  We use online meeting tools and platforms not only for work and study but also to stay in touch with families and friends.  Over the past months, many found it hard to catch the words or hear clearly, even with headphones on. It is stressful and tiring trying to manage these new norms.

Hearing loss operates silently in the background but has a significant impact on communications, quality of lifestyles, relationships and more. The truth is our seniors have been struggling to hear the caller voice or make out the dialogues from TV dramas or news for a long time till they gave up. The saying “when someone in the family has a hearing problem, the whole family faces the hearing problem” is so true as many shared this with us during the current trying times. We also know this issue is not new and it will not go away until we address it.

 

3 steps towards a successful hearing aid experience

The fear of using hearing aids especially in seniors, whether they can achieve good hearing outcome deters many from coming forward to try.  How do we go about choosing the right hearing aid and get it right from the start? Here are three pointers you should know before getting hearing aid.

  1. Understand your hearing loss

Undertaking diagnostic hearing test with qualified Audiologist is the first most important step.  Test results help individuals understand why they are not hearing certain sounds and correlate them with their daily hearing difficulties.  Understanding the degree and type of hearing loss condition will help you identify the appropriate treatment options such as hearing amplification or medical treatment. 

Over 75% of hearing loss cases belongs to the sensorineural type, caused mainly due to aging or noise induced.  Such damage is often permanent, irreversible and hearing aids remain the most effective solution to improve hearing. 

  1. Understanding Hearing Aids: styles, technologies and selection criteria

Hearing aids come in various styles and technologies as they are designed for different hearing needs.  Selection considerations include the amount of hearing loss, ear canal size/shape/condition, ear drum condition, user’s dexterity level and lifestyle needs.  Advances in hearing aid technologies improve hearing quality and also makes it easier and comfortable to use.  This encourages longer usage duration and helps the brain to relearn sounds, leading to overall better hearing experience.

Virtually invisible, custom-made hearing aids appeared to be more attractive because of its small size but the size also limits the amplification power and technologies that can be implemented. 

The two most impactful technologies introduced in modern aids are rechargeability and wireless Bluetooth.  Both these technologies are often available in behind-the-ear models where its sizes have reduced significantly compared to its predecessors. 

Wireless Bluetooth technology streams sounds from devices such as handphone, TV, laptop to your hearing aids automatically, after the initial setup.  This not only optimised clarity of sounds, it also makes hearing effortless which makes hearing aids easy to use, even for non tech-savvy users.

With rechargeable technology, seniors no longer worry about changing or buying battery and are encouraged to wear aids for longer periods.  Technology are not only more effective but also easier to use.  This removes the fear and help users adapt better to hearing aid solutions. The more they wear, the better they hear. The promotional price of such digital, rechargeable hearing aids at our clinic starts from $1,699. Call hotline 6346 0858 to make an hearing aid experience appointment.

  1. Understand the importance of post-hearing aid fitting support

First time hearing aid users often not aware that the post-hearing aid fitting support is equally important to achieve a good hearing outcome.

Hearing loss usually happens gradually over the years and one often get used to not hearing sounds. Getting an experienced Audiologist involved in your hearing care journey helps optimise hearing aid amplification so you can progressively resume hearing sounds at a normal sensation level that best suit your hearing and lifestyle needs. Call  hotline 6346 0858 to make an appointment for a one-to-one consultation with our experienced, multilingual Audiologists.