Your hearing aids work by collecting sounds from the environment and amplifying them. They do this with small microphones and a computer chip that analyzes the level of sounds around you and adjusts the volume accordingly.
They’re fitted in your ears, sometimes with custom-fitted earmolds. It’s important to note that earwax can build up over time, and it’s best to clean them regularly.
Know Your Hearing Aids
It can be a big transition to wear hearing aids, but learning about the technology of hearing aids like Phonak hearing technology can make it easier to handle. It can also help you to get the most out of them, even if your hearing loss has changed over time.
The hearing aids you choose will vary in price, size, and special features, but they all work by using tiny microphones to pick up sounds from your environment and convert them into digital code. That code is then analyzed and amplified, allowing you to understand what you want clearly.
There are many ways you can use hearing aids to enhance your everyday life, including listening to music, taking phone calls, and communicating with friends and family. You can also use special technology to improve your hearing in difficult environments, such as restaurants or noisy workplaces.
If you’re new to hearing aids, ask your audiologist how to use them best. This includes getting familiar with how to put in and take out the device, cleaning it, adjusting its volume, and learning to program it for your specific listening needs.
Modern hearing aids often have automatic settings that optimize the sound based on your unique listening needs and environment. You can also switch to different settings by hand if you prefer.
Know Your Settings
Many hearing aids come with pre-programmed settings designed to optimize your hearing in various situations. These programs, however, may not fully meet your hearing needs in certain environments, so you’ll need to work with your audiologist to customize the settings in your hearing devices.
Some hearing aids also include a T-coil function, which turns off the microphone so you can hear better on the phone. This can be selected manually, or the T-coil will automatically click when you put a phone to your ear.
You can also use a Bluetooth setting on your hearing aid to connect to any other electronic device that has a Bluetooth connection, such as a cell phone or home audio system. This allows you to listen to your favorite music without worrying about muting or turning down the volume.
Know Your Ears
The human ear is made up of three different sections that work together to collect sounds and send them to the brain. The outer ear collects sounds and filters them, the middle ear focuses sound, and the inner ear converts sound into nerve signals and sends them to the brain.
A hearing aid is a device that collects incoming sounds and then amplifies them to make them louder for you. It does this through small microphones, which are then connected to a computer chip that analyzes the sound and adjusts it accordingly.
You can find a variety of hearing aids on the market, including those that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to learn and adapt to your unique hearing needs. It’s also a good idea to have your hearing aids checked out after they’ve been in your ears for a few months to ensure everything is working properly. Feedback noise is one of the most common problems for people wearing hearing aids, and it’s usually a sign of something wrong with the device.
Know Your Audiologist
When you see your audiologist, bring a lot of information. They can delve into your medical history and ask about medications and any ear infections you may have had to determine if anything could be causing your hearing problems.
Your audiologist will first run a series of tests to see how well you hear. You can expect to take a few tests, including an ear drum test (tympanometry) and a pure tone test.
During this process, they will also look at how your ears feel. They might ask you to put a soft plug into your ear for a few seconds, and they will watch how it moves back and forth when sound hits it.
This is important because it will help them figure out how your hearing aids will work. Your audiologist will also do a few tests to help them make sure you don’t have any other hearing issues before fitting you with hearing aids.
Practice Your New Skills
Adapting to hearing aids is not an overnight process, but with patience, guidance, and appropriate expectations, you can quickly regain your hearing skills. You’ll also want to practice your new skills as much as possible so that you can continue to improve them.
The first few days after getting your new hearing aids, you’ll likely notice many loud or unpleasant sounds. This is because your brain is adjusting to the new sound quality of your hearing aids and relearning how to sort out background noise. For example, the humming of your refrigerator may seem loud because your brain hasn’t heard it in a while.
One way to practice your new listening skills is to use closed captioning while watching TV. This will help you learn how to hear the actors’ voices and understand what they’re saying.
Another similar exercise is to listen to an audiobook with your hearing aids on. It’s a fun and easy exercise that helps your brain make connections between words and sounds.
You can also practice your new listening skills in everyday situations, such as at work, worship, restaurants, meetings, and social events. Ask a friend or family member to be your “listening coach” and help you identify what you’re hearing.
