Hearing Aids
The hearing care industry has changed significantly over the years, with advances in technology and lower costs paving the way for an increase in variety and options. Hearing aids are more capable than ever, offering better sound quality with the advent of digital processing. They are more cosmetically appealing than in the past, providing a higher level of comfort, and are more automated, making them easier to use.
Having the latest and greatest technology is only part of the answer. Applying that technology to come up with a hearing solution custom tailored to fit your needs is the main goal. Our audiologists will match you up with the hearing aids best suited to your particular lifestyle, whether that is private, quiet, active, or dynamic.
Choosing the ideal technology for Your Hearing Lifestyle
Private
MINIMAL BACKGROUND NOISE
Activities of a Private Lifestyle Include:
- Quiet Conversation
- Door Bell
- Phone Ringing
- Alarms (Clock, Security, Timers, etc.)
Quiet
OCCASIONAL BACKGROUND NOISE
Activities of a Quiet Lifestyle Include:
- Home Telephone
- Driving
- Religious Services
- Adult Conversations
- Small Family Gatherings
- Quiet Restaurants
Active
MODERATE BACKGROUND NOISE
Activities of an Active Lifestyle Include:
- Bluetooth® Cell Phones
- Shopping
- Movie Theaters
- Health Clubs
- Small Group Meetings
- Conversations with Children
- Television
- Open/Reverberant Home
- iPod®/Personal
Dynamic
FREQUENT BACKGROUND NOISE
Activities of a Dynamic Lifestyle Include:
- Outdoor Activities
- Entertainment Venues (Casinos, Exhibit Halls, etc.)
- Busy Restaurants
- Frequent Social Gatherings
- Smart Phones
- Conference Calls
- Multimedia Connectivity(Home Theater, Computer, Phone, etc.)
- Travel & Airports
Hearing Aid Device Styles to Fit Your Needs
Hearing technology has experienced rapid and considerable change in recent years. That change has made hearing devices:
- More cosmetically appealing than ever before
- Provide a higher quality of sound due to the use of digital rather than analog processing
- More automated and easy to use
- Provide more comfort and many options
STYLES OF HEARING AIDS
Today’s hearing aids are smaller and less obtrusive than ever before. They offer an assortment of features, including directional microphones, feedback cancellation, open ear mold technology, automatic adjustments, customized programming, and connectivity to your wireless devices. Hearing aids get their names from where they are placed on your ear. Your doctor will choose a style that is right for you based upon your degree of hearing loss, your lifestyle, and your manual dexterity. Here is a breakdown of the different types of hearing aids available.
This is the most popular style of hearing aid on the marketplace today. The receiver is placed inside the ear canal, allowing for a smaller, less conspicuous device. Thin electrical wires take the place of acoustic tubes found in BTE styles.
Once we have discovered your needs based on your lifestyle assessment, we will diagnose your current hearing health and explain the results of our comprehensive tests. Together we will identify the gap between where you’re at and where you want to be with your listening lifestyle.
Like CIC instruments, ITC devices are custom-made and fit easily inside each ear. They are a little bit larger than CIC hearing aids, yet barely visible to others. The placement of the microphone delivers sound directly to the ear for more natural clarity.
ITE hearing aids are placed in the ear canals, but their larger size fills the outer ear, making them visible to others. The tradeoff is a larger sound amplifier for better sound quality, and additional features lacking in smaller models.
BTE hearing devices contain a curved shell that houses the electronics, and sits behind each ear. Sound is directed through a clear tube into the ears. These instruments have a stronger amplifier and larger battery, which makes them more noticeable than other models, though miniature versions are available.