Your guide to buying hearing aids

(ARA) - For many, accepting the fact that they may be suffering from hearing loss is a difficult process. But what could make it even worse is the process of finding the best hearing aid for their needs.

Buying a hearing aid can be a real challenge. A new publication, "Your Guide to Buying Hearing Aids," available for free online, can make the process easier and understandable. "The guide is designed to offer confidence and support by educating the consumer," says Sergei Kochkin, Ph.D., executive director of the Better Hearing Institute, the organization that published the guide. "We want to help ensure that anyone in need of a hearing aid receives the very best information and professional service available so they can make the very best purchasing decision possible."

For example, "Your Guide to Buying Hearing Aids" walks the consumer through four distinct phases of the purchasing experience:

Phase 1: Gathering information and scheduling the first appointment

Start your process of receiving information about hearing loss and treatment options by scheduling an appointment with a hearing healthcare professional (HHP). Look for recommendations from family and friends with hearing loss. Ask your family doctor for a referral to a HHP he trusts. Check with the better business bureau to determine if the HHP has any complaints filed against them.

Phase 2: What to expect during your first appointment

Your first visit should be a combination of in-depth conversation with the HHP about your communication needs, along with some objective medical-type tests that identify the extent of a possible hearing loss.

More than likely, the HHP will ask you questions about your ears, hearing ability and current communication situation so they can create an individualized and detailed assessment of your hearing as it relates to your lifestyle.

You should undergo the following tests in a sound proof booth:

* Pure tone audiometry measuring your hearing sensitivity in each ear.

* Utilizing tones to assess your tolerance of loud sounds.

* Measuring your ability to understand speech in noisy listening situations.

In addition the HHP should:

* Measure your annoyance to noise.

* Assess the mechanics of your middle and inner ear.

Some HHPs are able to simulate how you hear with and without hearing aids in what is called a simulated sound field. With modern computers, most HHPs should be able to simulate how you will hear with hearing aids in many listening situations such as in a place of worship, noisy restaurant, at a cocktail party or in a car. A description of hearing aid technology and styles is available on the BHI Web site.

Phase 3: What to expect during the hearing aid fitting

If you decide to pursue completely-in-the-canal (CIC), in-the-ear (ITE), in-the-canal (ITC), or larger behind-the-ear hearing aids, the HHP will take a mold or cast of your ear, allowing the manufacturer to customize the hearing aid to your ear. Hearing aids are customized instruments so you will have a follow-up appointment in two or three weeks. If you purchase mini-BTE or on-the-ear (OTE) devices, an earmold will not be necessary and the programming of the hearing aid can begin on your first visit. In programming your hearing aid make sure that the HHP uses real-ear measurement or speech mapping to optimize the prescriptive fitting for your unique hearing loss.

If you are new to hearing aids, you should be given a detailed schedule that outlines approximately how long and where you should wear them for the first week or two. It takes your brain a little time to get rewired with hearing aids, especially if you have had a hearing loss for several years.

Don't be surprised if that initial starting point sounds a little loud or abrasive. Remember you are hearing a lot of sounds you could not hear for many years. Hearing aids are fit prescriptively and this prescriptive formula has been shown to be a reasonable starting point for the vast majority of hearing aid users. If they are uncomfortably loud, communicate this to the HHP who has the ability to turn down the gain.

Phase 4: What to expect during post-fitting follow-up and after care

Buying hearing aids from the HHP is the first step in a successful hearing improvement journey. Make sure you get the most out of your investment by getting your hearing aids serviced when needed. Part of the service provided should include periodic hearing tests, hearing aid cleanings and fine tuning adjustments of the instruments.

Between 14 to 45 days following the initial fitting, you will need an outcome measure to determine how the hearing aids are working for you.

It may take more than a few visits to the HHP to get your hearing aids fine tuned. If that happens to you, be patient and work with your HHP to get it right. After you have given your ears and brain a few weeks to get acclimated to new hearing aids, they should be worn every day for several hours each day. Because they are worn in a very humid ear canal that often contains large amounts of cerumen (ear wax), hearing aids must be cleaned every day. Understand that hearing aids may not be returned after the trial period so be sure that you are getting benefit from your hearing aids before the trial period ends.

"Your Guide to Buying Hearing Aids" can be down loaded for free from www.betterhearing.org (under hearing loss treatment).

Courtesy of ARAcontent