Do you frequently mishear people, have trouble communicating when background noise is present or experience difficulty hearing the voices of women or children? If so, it’s important to get a hearing test right away.
If your hearing test reveals you have hearing loss, your audiologist will most likely recommend hearing aids as treatment. The next step in the rehabilitation process is a hearing aid fitting. Hearing aid fittings involve three steps: hearing aid selection, programming and adjustment.
Hearing Aid Selection
The first step of the hearing aid fitting process is selecting a device. Your audiologist will use your audiogram, which is a visual representation of your hearing loss, in order to decide what device will best benefit you.
If you have severe hearing loss, your audiologist will likely recommend a behind-the-ear or in-the-ear hearing aid. If your hearing loss is mild to moderate, you can wear a smaller device, like an in-the-canal or completely-in-canal device.
Finding the Right Features
Other factors come into play too when it comes to selecting a device. Your audiologist will ask you questions about your expectations of hearing aids and your lifestyle needs in order to select a device that offers the right features for you. Common hearing aid features include:
- Bluetooth compatibility.
- Smartphone connectivity.
- Telecoils.
- Rechargeability.
- Automatic programming.
- Background noise reduction.
- Directional microphones.
If you live an active lifestyle and enjoy going out with friends to MacKenzie River, you’ll need more features than someone who lives a quiet lifestyle and spends most of their time at home.
Hearing Aid Programming
After your device has been selected, your audiologist will use your audiogram and a computer to program the devices to the exact specifications of your hearing loss. This means it will provide the exact amount of amplification you need across a range of frequencies.
Hearing Aid Adjustment Period
Of course, hearing in the real world is different than hearing in a sound booth. Because of this, you should expect to return to the office to have your hearing aids adjusted based on your real-world listening needs. If you’ve already seen an audiologist to have your hearing tested, you know you can trust their expertise to select and program the perfect device for you. For more information about the hearing aid fitting process or to schedule an appointment with a hearing aid expert, call Ear, Nose & Throat Consultants today.