The Process Of Getting Hearing Aids

As with any medical device, going through the process of preparing and being evaluated is complicated. Not knowing what to expect at your early hearing aid appointments may be confusing. This article will serve as a guide to help you understand the process of receiving your hearing aids. 

Hearing Evaluation

Having your hearing evaluated takes several steps and tests. It's important to get a comprehensive sense of your overall ear health and your degree of hearing loss. Here are several types of tests that an audiologist may perform on your ear.

Physical Examination

First, the audiologist will physically examine your ear. They will check the function of your middle and inner ear, and look for any damage or abnormalities to the eardrum. They may also test your eardrum's sensitivity to pressure.

Pure-Tone Test

For this type of test, you will wear headphones that will play different volumes and pitches of beeps into your ear. You will indicate to the doctor whether or not you are hearing them so that they can get a sense of your capabilities. 

Speech Comprehension Test

For this test, you will listen to recordings of speech in different settings being played through either headphones or a speaker. This determines how well you can understand speech in quiet environments or environments with lots of background noise. 

Hearing Aid Consultation

If/when the results of your hearing evaluation confirm that you have enough hearing loss to warrant a hearing aid, you will have a follow-up consultation with your audiologist. Together you will decide what type of hearing aid is best for you. They will ask about your listening and communication needs. Your age, hand dexterity, ear anatomy, degree of hearing loss, and lifestyle will also all play a factor in the type of hearing aid that you will get. 

Hearing Aid Fitting

After you have chosen the hearing aid style you want, and the doctor has ordered them, you will have another appointment to do the fitting. Your audiologist will program the hearing aid to have the right volume and settings. Hearing aids are extremely adjustable and the audiologist can do such things as filter certain sounds, program the hearing aid to work better in loud or quiet environments, or reduce background noise. You and the audiologist will communicate back and forth, making adjustments to the settings until they are just right. You will practice putting the hearing aid on and off and will be taught how to care for them to keep them working perfectly.

Even though it may seem overwhelming, if you are experiencing hearing loss, receiving hearing aid services is an extremely wise decision. Once all these appointments are over and you have a set of hearing aids that fits all your needs, they will greatly improve your quality of life. Contact a hearing aid service for more information.