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Some hearing aid options improve your ability to hear in specific situations:
* Directional microphones. These microphones pick up sounds coming from in front of you better than coming from behind or beside you. This technology improves your ability to hear when you're in an environment with a lot of background noise. Typically you'll have both a regular microphone and a directional microphone, so you can switch between the two types. Some hearing aids automatically switch between the regular and directional modes.
* Telephone adapters. This technology, also referred to as telecoil T switches, makes it easier to hear when talking on the telephone. The telecoil eliminates the sounds from your environment and only picks up the sounds from the telephone. Some hearing aids switch automatically when the phone is held up to the hearing aid, while others require flipping a switch. Keep in mind that this technology works only with telephones that are compatible with hearing aids — most cell phones aren't.
* Bluetooth technology. New hearing aids can transmit sound from Bluetooth devices, such as Bluetooth cell phones. These hearing aids require an interface that wirelessly picks up the Bluetooth signal from Bluetooth compatible devices and transmits the signal to the hearing aid. You don't have to hold the phone to your ear or hearing aid to hear the sounds.
* Remote controls. Some hearing aids use a remote control that makes volume control adjustments or other changes without touching the hearing aid. The remote may also make other adjustments, such as activating the directional microphone or increasing the noise reduction.
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The other day, Daniel Allen, chief audiologist and vice-president of Audiotech HealthCare Corporation was discussing the readiness of some of the patients who come into the clinic, to be fitted for a hearing aid. He said, "I send, on average, 3 or 4 patients per year away because they aren't ready for hearing aids. Sometimes a husband or a wife will drag their spouse in to have their hearing tested, but that person is still in denial. What good is it to fit them for a hearing aid? They will just take it home, toss it on a nightstand and never wear it. Would you wear a hearing aid if you thought that your hearing was fine?"
"What can you do? Give the client the results of his hearing tests, discuss the options that he has and then give him time. Help him along in his grieving process 'the five stages of grieving'. When he's ready, he'll come back.
So, what are the five stages of grieving? The concept of these stages was first conceived by Elisabeth Kubler Ross, a renowned Swiss-American psychiatrist. She gave the Western World new insight into the treatment and care of the terminally ill. In her best-selling book, On Death and Dying (1969), she discusses the five psychological stages the terminally ill go through ... denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
These 'five stages of grieving' can also be applied to other life-changing experiences of pain or loss -- traumatic events like divorce, illness, loss of limb or more specifically the impairment of a sense such as hearing.
Any degree of hearing loss will have a negative impact on a person's life. It will affect his ability not only to communicate with loved ones, but to hear some of his favourite sounds, from music, to children laughing, to birds singing. His professional, family and social life will all be disrupted, leaving him feeling frustrated and at times isolated. Coping with this loss is not an overnight process. Before he can come to terms with his condition and seek out assistance, he will undergo all of the five stages of grieving.
The first stage in this process of grieving is denial. In "On Death and Dying", Kubler-Ross states, "Denial functions as a buffer after unexpected shocking news, allows the patient to collect himself and, with time, mobilize other, less radical defences ... Denial is usually a partial defence and will soon be replaced with partial acceptance." Recognizing that there is something wrong, is perhaps the hardest part, especially if the hearing loss is gradual. Perhaps this is because even people with "normal" hearing have difficulty hearing in some situations ... at a public gathering, in a crowd, or in a noisy restaurant. Often a friend or a family member will notice a problem even before the individual concerned. But, when confronted, they will remain adamant, "My hearing is fine. Just speak up a little."
When denial can no longer be maintained, it is often replaced with feelings of anger, rage, envy, and resentment. Individuals may begin to lash out at everyone and everything in their frustration. This second stage is generally not focused on just one person, but at everyone. They may be angry at the audiologist who tested their hearing. "Your equipment is faulty. I need a second opinion." They may even go through a period where they resent those who have no trouble hearing. Keep in mind, if you are a family member or friend of someone going through this stage, this anger may feel like it's being directed at you. Don't take it personally. This is a process your loved one must go through to accept his condition.
Kubler-Ross argues that the third stage of bargaining, "...is really an attempt to postpone..." For a hearing impaired person, this may translate to postponing getting their hearing tested, or purchasing hearing aids. They may use excuses like "My hearing isn't that bad. People always mumble. If they would only speak clearer, I would be able to understand. Alright, if it gets any worse, then I'll go."
Kubler-Ross also outlines the fourth stage of grieving in her book. She suggests, "when the...patient can no longer deny his illness, when he is forced to undergo more surgery or hospitalization, when he begins to have more symptoms ... he cannot smile it off anymore. His numbness or stoicism, his anger and rage will soon be replaced with a sense of great loss ..." Once again, this can apply to the hearing impaired. When all excuses have been exhausted, he can no longer deny that he is having difficulty hearing. Like the terminally ill patient, he too will sink into depression. He has lost hope and grieves for everything that has changed and for the hearing sensations he will no longer be able to fully experience. People with hearing loss who have a close family life, find it emotionally painful to deal with their loss. They get tired of saying, "Huh? What? Pardon me?" They recognize this is disruptive to conversation and they slowly begin to withdraw or distance themselves from their families.
Given time, a person will eventually come to terms with their hearing loss and reach the final stage of acceptance. As Kubler-Ross denotes "If a patient has had enough time ... and has been given some help in working through the previously described stages, he will reach a stage during which he is neither depressed nor angry about his "fate." He will have been able to express his previous feelings, his envy ... [and] his anger ... He will have mourned the impending loss ..." Only when he has reached this point will he be ready to ask "What can I do to hear better? Is there a hearing device that will help me?"
The transition between each of these stages is not abrupt. A person will move gradually from denial to anger, anger to bargaining, bargaining to depression and depression to acceptance. For example, as he begins to realize he can no longer deny his condition, he becomes angrier and more resentful. Eventually this anger dissipates and is replaced with excuses or reasons why the hearing loss is not permanent. As these excuses run out, depression sets in. The duration each of these stages will last varies with each individual.
Daniel Allen gave an interesting example of this, "The time between when a person leaves my office and when they return varies. Sometimes it may be as long as two years before they are ready to accept their situations. Sometimes they go through this process quickly ... you never know. The important thing is that they come back when THEY are ready. I had a case recently where I gave a gentleman a hearing test and after talking to him, thought to myself "there is no way that this person is ready to be fitted for a hearing aid right now." He left the office, but to my amazement he returned two days later."
Only when the patient recognizes that unlike in death, something can be done to improve his quality of life, will he be ready to seek out help. The most important thing to realize is that before a hard-of-hearing person is ready to 'get help', he must go through the grieving process and come to terms with his condition.
Link :- hearingcenteronline.com/ newsletter/may00f.shtml
Hearing Planet blog provides hearing aids doctor and hearing devices through a national network of hearing aid clinics with multiple brands,such as Phonak hearing aids, ReSound hearing aids, Siemens hearing aids, Unitron hearing aids, Sonic hearing aids Innovations and others and independent advice to ensure the right hearing aid for you.
To get rid from different hearing loss problem one can use different hearing aids, which depend upon type of hearing loss. Different hearing devices can be different in structure but they perform same function.Hearing Aids, Hearing Aids Doctor, Sep 2009
Usually it is noticed that when a person feels problem in his ear then at the first he feels pain in inner part of his ear. It depends upon the type of hearing problem, which a user face, so in this situation one should consult audiologist for curing of hearing pain. Because a patient cannot diagnose his problem fully as compared to a specialist one otherwise ignoring such problem may cause serious position of the patient. Moreover if there is a hearing difficulties there is likelihood of recommendation of hearing aid devices by the doctor.
Types Of Hearing Problems
There are different types of hearing difficulties depending upon the different situation, these problems are mentioned one by one:
Conductive Hearing
It is characterized by time being hearing loss and pain in outer or middle of the year. Person also undergoes mild hearing loss and he might be having some loss of sight.
Sensory Hearing Loss Sensory hearing loss is occurred due to malfunctioning of cochlea in the ear. In this case special tiny hear cells become damaged and it effects on hearing capability of person very badly as compared to conductive hearing difficulties. The person with this problem cannot distinguish among the sounds around himself.
Neural Type Of Hearing Problem:
Neural type of hearing difficulties is occurred because of problem in connection of cochlea to brain. Since it is also regarded as nerve problem as it is only the nerve which takes important sensory information from cochlea to brain so in neural type of hearing difficulties nerve is mostly effected. Sometimes this problem also occurs due to hereditary traits, which comes into light along the growth of a person.
There are also other hearing loses due to different reasons but these are very temporarily. For example when a person is habitual of listening high-pitched voices then after sometime it is observed that it becomes very difficult for him to listen comparatively lower voices.
Working Of Hearing Aid:
To get rid from different hearing loss problem one can use different hearing aids, which depend upon type of hearing loss. Different hearing devices can be different in structure but they perform same function.
Structure Of Hearing Aid
Mostly hearing devices are composed of microphone amplifier speaker and battery. Each part performs its own role for getting best quality performance. These devices are very much sensitive and only ones careless attitude can lead to loss.
The basic components of a contemporary hearing aid include a microphone, an amplifier, a receiver, and a power supply.
A microphone is a transducer that converts the sound signal into electrical energy. The amplifier is a transformer that increases the amplitude of the electrical signal that is sent to the receiver. The receiver then changes the modified electrical signal back into sound energy that is directed into the ear.
A variety of microphones, amplifiers, and receivers are used, depending on the type and degree of hearing loss. The American National Standard Specification of Hearing Aid Characteristics specifies the electroacoustic tests that a manufacturer must perform and publish for each hearing aid before the instrument is shipped.1 The standard states the tolerance allowed so that the audiologist can perform the same tests to verify the performance of an instrument against specifications.
Currently used hearing aid microphones are primarily electrical devices that have good linear behavior over a frequency range of 50-6000 Hz. This range can be modified to be more appropriate for specific hearing losses.
Directional microphones have been developed that can vary with both the amplitude and the direction of the sound source relative to the microphone. They can reduce the sounds coming from the back of a hearing aid wearer compared with the sounds coming from the front by as much as 15 dB. This change can greatly improve the signal-to-noise ratio of the listener and thus the understanding of speech in the presence of noise.
Hearing aid amplifiers are transformers primarily composed of transistors that are built into an integrated circuit. These transistors provide a current source and serve a variety of functions. In these transistors, the primary function of the amplifier is to increase the power of the electrical signal received from the microphone.
Typically, hearing aids have 2 or more stages of amplification. The first stage is the preamplifier, which is at the level of the microphone. The preamplifier helps to amplify the initial input signal. At this level, the gain is relatively low.
Most amplification is supplied by the power amplifier. These amplifiers are typed in a particular class. The most common are referred to as class A, class B, and class D. They are distinguished by their power consumption, gain, and output abilities.
Each amplifier can be modified to limit the maximum output of the hearing aid. For linear amplification, the amplifier may be limited by peak clipping. This occurs when the electrical signal exceeds the maximum output of some component of the hearing aid circuit. This type of limiting causes various forms of distortion that have been found to reduce the intelligibility and the subjective quality of speech.
A hearing aid that has some type of level-dependent signal processing is termed a nonlinear hearing aid. Most nonlinear hearing aids reduce gain as input or output levels increase.
Nonlinear hearing aids are designed to amplify a wide range of sounds so that they are audible to the hearing-impaired listener without becoming uncomfortably loud. These aids usually use some form of compression circuit that reduces the gain of the instrument when either the input to the device or the output of the device exceeds a predetermined level. This process results in a comfortable amplification for the wearer and prevents the hearing aid from saturating.
Compression hearing aids can provide amplification of the speech components that are essential for intelligibility and can reduce impulsive or high-level sounds that normally cause discomfort.
The hearing aid receiver is an output transducer and handles more power than a microphone. Receivers in hearing aids are very small because of cosmetic considerations.
In general, larger receivers can supply larger output signals. Therefore, the small receivers on hearing aids may be taxed to their output capabilities.
The receiver must also be chosen to match its amplifier. A mismatch in design produces limited output and increases distortion.
Because of the receiver's open position in the external ear canal, it is vulnerable to damage from debris in the ear canal and from the aid being dropped. Manufacturers state that approximately 40% of hearing aids returned for service have damage or blockage to the receiver.
Hearing aid batterieshave been standardised across the board now, and as such are fairly easy to identify. There are four sizes available, size 10, size 312, size 13 and size 675.
They are colour coded for ease of recognition. Size 10 batteries are coded with yellow labels and packaging, size 312 are coded brown, size 13 are orange and size 675 are blue.
Most of the smaller hearing devices from Phonak, Resound or Oticon will use a size 312 (brown) or a size 10 (yellow) battery. Some of the larger digital hearing instruments will use the size 13, and a few power aids such as the Oticon Sumo or the Phonak Naida will use the size 675.
As a rule, the larger the battery, the more life you will get from it and the longer you will be able to listen to your hearing instruments without needing to change the battery. Newer hearing devices, do generally tend to be smaller which is clearly desireable from a cosmetics perspective. These smaller hearing instruments tend to use 10 or 312 batteries. Try to find a quality battery brand such as Rayovac, whihc are specifically designed and manufactured for hearing aid wearers. These will most likely provide better performance with your hearing devices than other brands. You may find that some brands of hearing aid batteries will provide a recycling facility where you can send them back and these can be reused.
It doesn’t matter how you say it, they all mean the same thing: you didn’t hear what was just said.
I’ve been thinking recently about how often I don’t hear what someone has said and how often I ask them to repeat themselves. In some situations I will ask repeatedly, no matter how many time it takes, until I hear. In others, I will only ask once or twice. And, in others, I will not ask at all.
With family and close friends I am happy to ask repeatedly; most, if not all, of them know I am partially deaf and they are usually happy to repeat themselves until the cows come home. Sometimes, and I guess it depends on their mood, they don’t want to repeat themselves - this annoys me quite a bit, if what they just said is not worth repeating why was it worth saying in the first place?
The people I really struggle with are the quietly and soft spoken ones. Some people just refuse to speak up and it will not matter how many times I ask them to repeat it, I will never hear them properly! I find myself avoiding speaking to people who I know speak really quietly, just to avoid the hassle - I wish I didn’t do this because I’m sure it looks rude to them and I’m no doubt missing out on some good conversation. The obvious answer here is to tell them that I have trouble hearing what they say; I really don’t feel comfortable doing that and I can’t remember a time when I ever have done. I really should make the effort to start in future.
In the opening paragraph I said that in some cases I will never ask the person to repeat themselves. I used to do this a lot - I used to be too embarrassed about my hearing loss, I tried to hide it as much as possible - I would either try and guess what they said based on the odd word I’d heard or the context of the conversation or simply nod, laugh or give a short answer like “yes” or “no”. I realised some years ago that this was a stupid thing to do, I cringe at the amount of times I must have given stupid and meaningless answers. I’m sure a lot of people do this exact thing all the time, it’s an easy way out.
It’s rarely uncomfortable to ask someone to repeat themselves in a one-to-one conversation; a group conversation can, on the other hand, be very difficult. It is a good idea to position yourself somewhere where you will have the best chance of hearing; this is something you can do when you know that one person in the group is going to be doing most of the talking: the teacher at school/college, someone giving a presentation to a group, and so on. It’s not so easy when you don’t have a single person to concentrate on: when you are chatting with friends or in an office meeting, it is particularly difficult if there is also background noise such as background chatter or office air-conditioning. It is too easy to loose the conversation when you are having to listen for voices coming from all directions.
I am working with Hearing Planet. Hearing Planet Audiologists and Personal Hearing Consultants will provide guidance, service and support and also provides sales and service of major digital hearing aid brands such as Phonak, ReSound, Siemens, Unitron, Sonic Innovations and others. http://www.hearingplanet.com
Hearing aid options
t are compatible with hearing aids — most cell phones aren't.
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