I Need Hearing Aids

There is no shame in admitting this. Chances are, everyone else already knew and they will applaud you for taking a pro-active approach…for taking the bull by the horns and doing something about it! Once you finally make this decision, a whole new world will be open to you. This is the part that seems to be the most intimidating in the road to better hearing. The unknown is scary enough but the horror stories of people who hated their hearing aids doesn’t exactly help the situation. Especially if you were one of them. And while it is true that hearing aids can be expensive, they have proven themselves to be invaluable in improving communication. Did you know that untreated hearing loss can lead to depression and isolation? People with untreated hearing loss often mistake loudness for hostility when family members have to raise their voices in order to be heard and think that people are mad at them for no reason, leading to family conflicts, worry and insecurities. In sharp contrast, people with hearing loss who wear hearing aids note a marked improvement in their physical, emotional, mental and social well-being. What’s more, their family members and friends notice an improvement too.

Hearing aids have come such a long way since the ones your parents wore or even the ones you may have tried five years ago. Technology has even brought about some fairly significant changes just in the last year! The capabilities of these new hearing aids makes them easier to adjust to but don’t let anyone kid you…there is an adjustment period and some work on your part no matter how great the hearing aid is. Hearing takes place as much in the brain as it does the ear. When you have gone too long without hearing sound clearly, the brain is in hyper-alert mode and thinks everything is important. After a brief period of time wearing your new hearing aids, the brain will settle down and figure out which sounds need to be put on the backburner and tuned out and which ones need to be focused on. There are also adjustments that may need to be made in the hearing aid itself. If sounds just don’t seem right and you’ve given the ear and the brain time to adjust, then it may very well be the hearing aids that need some tweaking. Even though the hearing aids are already programmed based on your hearing loss, we realize the computer can only go so far in knowing what is right for you. That is where COMMUNICATION comes in.

COMMUNICATION is the most important part of the fitting, adapting and learning to love your hearing aids process. If there is a problem, it is highly likely that we can fix it. Not always. But much of the time. For example, after wearing the hearing aids for a week or two, you still find a certain sound quality not quite up to par…maybe something is too loud or sharp. We can adjust this. Why wait one or two weeks? Because if it is just a matter of the newness of it all and we go ahead and make adjustments based on what you are telling us, we will likely mess something else up and you will not be getting the full benefit of your hearing aids. When you first put hearing aids on, some things will sound different. That is not a bad thing since the way you were hearing before wasn’t really working so well for you but it does take some getting used to. Once you have had time to get used to it, then is the time to “tweak”.

Hearing aids today are almost all programmable. By hooking them up to our computers and using special software, we are able to adjust the hearing aids according to your specific and unique needs. But if you don’t tell us, we can’t fix it. Now, if you have given yourself time, you have followed our advice to the letter, we have addressed each concern with professionalism and care but you still just don’t feel you are getting the benefit you had hoped for from your hearing aids, just bring them back within the allotted time (usually 30 days) and we’ll give you a refund. Believe me, we do not want you to be unhappy and we don’t want your hearing aids to become forgotten treasures lying in a dresser drawer to run across someday when you are looking for Aunt Sue’s brooch and you see those hearing aids and you feel like you wasted your money and your time. When you think of us, we want happy thoughts! If that means returning your hearing aids and maybe trying again another day, then that is what we want you to do.

Our motto is “Better hearing. Doesn’t that sound good?” We think it sounds great and we want to do everything we can to help you hear better.

The Different Styles of Hearing Aids

Keep in mind, it isn’t the size or style that makes one hearing aid different from another as much as it is the circuitry and features that go inside the hearing aid….that is what makes some hearing aids cost more than others. Even though two hearing aids may look the same on the outside, they may have very different components on the inside. Kind of the old, “you can’t judge a book by its cover” thing! The size or style of hearing aid recommended often depends on the degree of hearing loss, the configuration of your hearing loss, your manual dexterity, the features you prefer or need and your personal preferences.