How To Know, You Need A Hearing Aid?

Hearing loss affects millions of Americans. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, age-related damage to sensory hair cells in the ears frequently results in hearing loss as a person matures. Even though a hearing aid can improve your hearing, you might not immediately realize that you need one. You can use these indicators of hearing loss to decide if a hearing aid is the best option for you. The go-for option can be the most trending Widex Hearing Aid.

 

Hearing aids do not restore your hearing to normal, unlike eyeglasses. Instead, hearing aids work by amplifying sounds within a specific pitch range, which is the range where hearing loss is present. Speech or environmental sounds, such as bells ringing, birds chirping, discussions from surrounding tables at a restaurant, or noisy traffic, may be included in those sounds.

Although hearing aid technology is outstanding nowadays, the devices are still considered "aids" since they cannot distinguish between the targeted speech signal and the background noise as well as our brain and two ears that are in normal working order. As a result, it's crucial to use communication techniques when utilizing hearing aids in challenging listening situations.

The following are warning symptoms of hearing loss, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): 

●     Communication difficulties, especially in noisy or distracting surroundings.

●     Some sounds are more difficult to hear or muffled.

●     Difficulty hearing others on the phone.

●     Regularly turning up the phone or TV volume.

●     Requesting more often than usual that individuals repeat themselves

●     Ears that are ringing

●     Increased pain or sensitivity to particular sounds.

 

Hearing Aid Evaluation

You can discuss the possibilities for hearing aids to determine if they are the appropriate choice for you after visiting an audiologist and an otolaryngologist for a thorough hearing test and medical clearance. According to a 2020 peer-reviewed Medicine article, an audiologist or otolaryngologist typically conducts one or more of the hearing tests listed below.

1. Weber hearing loss test: On the forehead using tuning forks to see if it is worse on one side is known as the Weber test.

2. Audiogram hearing test: Test your behavioral hearing with an audiogram in a soundproof room by raising your hand or pressing a button to indicate when you've heard the sounds. To determine the frequencies at which you can hear best, the data are plotted on an audiogram.

3. The Rinne hearing test: It measures the threshold of hearing loss by pressing tuning forks against the mastoid bones in the back of the ear.

4. Tympanometry test: This tool measures the rigidity of the eardrum to determine how well the middle ear is working.

5. Otoacoustic emissions hearing loss test: This evaluates how well the small hair cells in the cochlea perceive sound by inserting a tiny probe inside the ear.

Research is increasingly demonstrating that hearing aids are capable of much more than merely improving hearing. They might also improve your health. This is why. Untreated hearing loss is known to increase the risk of dementia, falling, and depression, among other health risks. Contact Widex, to get the latest hearing ear machine at an affordable price.