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New hearing aid technology worth hearing about
New hearing aid technology worth hearing about
By Kevin Mangan, MSCCC
Q. People with vision loss usually get glasses, but people who are hard of hearing are
often hesitant about getting hearing aids.
1. What are people's concerns?
2. What are the new developments that make using a hearing aid better?
A. Hearing loss affects over 26 million people (about 10% of the population) in the United
States. However, only 10% of people with hearing loss use amplification. Additionally, the
average time between when people first notice a hearing problem and when they decide to
act on the problem is eight years. Why does it take so long for those with a hearing loss
to seek help? There are a number of factors that influence a person's decision to use
amplification.
Hearing loss generally occurs very slowly over a person's life. One may first notice
difficulty hearing with background noise, or only have trouble with certain voices, or TV
shows. Often they will ask their spouse or friends to repeat what was said. In this case,
the spouse or friend is filling the role of hearing aid for them. Many people report that
their hearing is not bad "for their age."
The major cause for hearing loss in adults is a combination of age and amount of noise
exposure a person has been exposed to during one's lifetime. This is called presbycusis
and affects about 17 million people. For many people with this type of loss, a hearing aid
can compensate for the toll that life has taken on their ears.
Some people feel that using a hearing aid "will make me look old." Actually, for
many people, a hearing aid helps them stay young. A hearing loss is almost always more
noticeable than a hearing aid. Often, people with hearing loss will start to withdraw from
social activities that have given them great pleasure in the past, but are now "too
difficult." Most people do not realize how hard people with hearing loss have to work
to keep up with conversation, or listen to music or attend the theater. Using a hearing
aid allows them to continue with many of the social activities that keep them feeling
healthy and active.
In the last five years hearing aid technology has changed dramatically. The advent of
programable and the new digital hearing aids has given the audiologist new tools to
address many of the concerns that hearing aid patients have reported in the past. Hearing
when it is noisy has been a problem with many of the older types of hearing aids. This is
because the hearing aid amplified all sounds, even those we didn't want to hear. Modern
aids may incorporate sophisticated circuits that can separate certain types of noise from
speech or directional microphones that pick up sound primarily from in front of the
listener and not from the noise around them. They may have anti-feedback circuits to
eliminate the whistling that some people experience, or may allow the audiologist to
gradually increase the amount of amplification to help ease the transition to using aids.
Some of these aids work completely automatically, and others may use a remote control to
change the response of the hearing aid in different situations. Additionally, many of
these aids may be re-programmed to compensate for a change in hearing without having to
replace the hearing aid. These have greatly increased user satisfaction with hearing aids.
While no hearing aid will restore our hearing to the level we had as teenagers, many
people can benefit from the use of amplification. If you think your hearing has started to
change, ask your primary care physician to recommend a hearing evaluation.
Kevin Mangan is an audiologist who works with Dr. John Loiodice in Pittsfield.