How would I know I have hearing loss?

Hearing loss develops slowly and subtly. Our own built-in defenses may make it difficult for us to determine whether we have a hearing loss or not. Hearing loss is usually gradual in onset and we compensate by lip reading and asking others to repeat themselves. Many times, we adjust and get used to it as it is happening to us. Amazingly, people sometimes wait up to 7 years before doing something about their hearing loss. A simple hearing test would determine if a hearing loss exists and to what degree.

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What are the signs of hearing loss?

• Words are often missed
• The level of the speaker’s voice seems ok but still hard to understand
• Asking people to speak louder
• Asking people to repeat what has been said
• Turning the volume of the TV and radio higher
• Difficulty in hearing noise

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What are the causes of hearing loss?

• Age
• Noise exposure
• Middle ear problem
• Bacterial and viral diseases
• Family history of deafness

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What are the degrees of hearing loss?

Mild - Can hear and understand in most places but have some difficulty

Moderate - Some words are missed in a quiet place. Asking people to speak louder. More difficulty hearing and understanding in noise.

Severe - Speakers will have to shout and come closer to pick up some of what is being said. Definitely, can not hear at normal conversation level.

Profound - These people can only hear very loud sounds such as a car horn, loud bang, etc. Usually speech is not understood even if the speaker is talking very loudly.

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Do all hearing aids work the same way?

All hearing aids make sounds louder for the hard of hearing or deaf people. All hearing aids consist of a microphone, an amplifier and a receiver that outputs sound in the ear canal. Processing of sound and features of a hearing aid makes it different from one another. There are mainly two types as under:

Analog - these hearing aids simply picks up sound, converts it into small electrical signals and then amplify these signals. Most of the better analog hearing aids compress the sound using 'automatic gain control" (AGC). This feature amplifies quieter sounds until they are loud enough to be heard, but gives less amplification to sounds that are already loud, so you're protected against uncomfortable loud sound levels. Analog hearing aids don’t have all the features that come with advanced digital aids, but they are less expensive.

Digital - these hearing aids process sound digitally. Sounds are converted into digital bits just like in a CD. They have special circuitry that enhances the sound quality digitally and allows an audiologist to adjust different frequencies as per the user lifestyle. This manipulation of sound frequencies allows an audiologist to identify and reduce the background noise levels to a great extend.

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Are hearing aids expensive?

The prices of hearing aids vary greatly, depending on the style and feature that you are interested in. Please contact us for a quote.

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Can hearing aids restore my hearing to normal?

Hearing aids are designed to aid a person's hearing ability and one should have realistic expectations as to what hearing aids can and cannot accomplish. Hearing aids cannot restore normal hearing nor can they cure your hearing problem. They can, however, help you get the most out of your remaining hearing ability and they are extremely successful at restoring a person’s communication ability. Hearing aids may need to be supplemented by auditory training and reprogramming as your hearing and communication ability improves after waering a hearing aid.

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Why 2 hearing aids?

To understand the benefits of wearing two hearing aids, it is first important to realize that you hear in your brains, not in your ears. Your brain processes the information received from both ears to ‘paint' an ‘auditory picture' of your surroundings. If your brain receives a signal from just one ear not only will it have to work twice as hard, (which is more tiring and stressful for you) but it will have less information.

Another factor to consider is that wearing two hearing aids improves sound quality. Binaural hearing requires less volume, which makes listening more comfortable and less tiring. Secondly, with messages being sent to both ears, the brain is capable of hearing things in ‘stereo'. This gives the listener a natural, balanced ‘3-D' sound which can be understood more clearly.

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What is an Invisible Hearing Aid?

These are custom-fit invisible-in-the-canal (IIC) hearing aids which rests comfortably in the second bend of your ear canal - completely undetectable to the outside world. If you have hearing loss or are hard of hearing, you’re no longer limited by BTE (behind-the-ear), ITE (in-the-ear) or even CIC (completely-in-the-canal) hearing aids. Your audiologist can help determine if the invisible hearing aid is suitable for your canal size.

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