Are All Hearing Aids Created Equal?

They are not, and neither are our ears! 

Ears are very different and unique even to the same person. People also perceive sound differently. Since being in the audiology profession, I know there is a right hearing aid and a wrong hearing aid for someone. I also know, no one hearing aid fits all. 

Fitting hearing difficulties properly is more than taking a hearing aid out of the box and sticking it in your ear. It requires a precisely prescribed fitting to provide not just amplification but volume, depth of sound, directionality, clarity, hearing in noise, and the perception of loudness which may change over time, etc. These are all parameters that need to be addressed with a skilled hearing professional to maximize a person’s satisfaction with hearing aids. Fitting hearing aids may also be like setting a moving target as a patient’s perception of sound will change over time. But with the proper training and strategies, each patient will reach 100% satisfaction and benefit from their hearing technology! 

The Advantage of Modern Hearing Technology

We have great flexibility with new hearing aid technology to help the patient ease into certain sounds. Patients also have control over their settings with apps that connect from their phone or tablets to their hearing aids – This gives them the ability to ease into hearing as they self-adjust. Some new hearing aids learn what sounds to prioritize, and some can even learn the settings the patient may be the most comfortable with as the patient adjusts.

With the skills and experience of a trained hearing healthcare professional, you’ll find the right hearing aid for you – they are all very different! Some people may perform better with one hearing aid over another, depending on how their ears and nerves can process speech and noise. As an audiologist, we can even have you try and test different devices to see which ones you perform the best with before we make any final decisions.