Why should we buy Hearing Aids from professional Audiologist/Hearing Instrument Specialist?

This is a very interesting and complex topic, which I thought must be published for the sake of hearing aid buyers and users. We should also know the importance of buying the hearing aids as it is going to be a long time using device. Purchasing hearing aids from a professional audiologist or hearing instrument specialist offers various benefits compared to buying them through other channels or online. Here are several reasons why seeking professional guidance when buying hearing aids is highly beneficial: Comprehensive Evaluation: Audiologists and hearing instrument specialists are trained to conduct thorough hearing assessments. They can diagnose the type and degree of your hearing loss accurately, ensuring that you receive the most appropriate hearing aids for your specific needs. Customized Solutions: Professionals tailor the selection of hearing aids to match your hearing loss, lifestyle, and preferences. They consider factors like your communication needs, daily activities, and budget to recommend the most suitable devices. Proper and professional Fitting: Achieving a comfortable and secure fit is crucial for hearing aid effectiveness and comfort. Professionals use precise measurements and molding techniques to ensure your hearing aids fit perfectly, reducing the risk of discomfort or feedback issues. Programming and Adjustments: Hearing aids require precise programming to meet your unique hearing requirements. Audiologists and hearing instrument specialists are skilled in programming and fine-tuning hearing aids to optimize their performance and comfort. They can make necessary adjustments over time as your hearing needs change. Education and Counseling: Professionals provide comprehensive education on how to use and care for your hearing aids. They offer guidance on communication strategies and realistic expectations, helping you adapt to your new devices more successfully. Trial Periods: Many hearing healthcare professionals offer trial periods during which you can test different hearing aids to find the most suitable option. This minimizes the risk of investing in a device that doesn't meet your expectations. Follow-Up Care: Hearing aid providers offer ongoing support and maintenance. Regular follow-up appointments are essential for adjustments, cleanings, and addressing any issues that may arise. Verification and Validation: Professionals use validated methods to verify that your hearing aids are functioning correctly and meeting your hearing needs. This ensures that you are receiving the full benefit of your investment. Access to the Latest Technology: Professionals stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in hearing aid technology. They can recommend cutting-edge features and models that may improve your hearing experience. Community and Resources: Audiologists and hearing instrument specialists often have access to a network of other healthcare providers, support groups, and resources that can enhance your overall hearing health and well-being. Insurance and Warranty Assistance: They can assist you in navigating insurance coverage and help with warranty claims, making the process smoother and less stressful. Ethical Practices: Reputable professionals adhere to a code of ethics and prioritize your best interests. They are less likely to engage in high-pressure sales tactics or recommend unnecessary products or services. While purchasing hearing aids from a professional may initially seem more expensive than online or over-the-counter options, the personalized care, expertise, and long-term benefits they provide make it a wise investment in your hearing health. Consult with an audiologist or hearing instrument specialist to start your journey toward improved hearing and a better quality of life.

PROBLEMS HAVING EARWAX.

Earwax Obstruction

Another leading cause of hearing aid failure is wax blockage. The technical name for common earwax is cerumen. It’s produced by a gland in the outer ear roughly one-third of the way down the ear canal. The
product of this gland is a pasty substance, usually light brown or tan in color and bitter in taste. (Take our word on this one!) Cerumen is believed to exist in the ear canal to discourage flies and insects from entering this opening.The degree of wax generated in the canal varies greatly from one person to the other. On average, men experience more wax buildup than women. Some women, however, can produce large amounts of cerumen, as can children. For reasons not clearly understood, some individuals generate little or no wax. If you’re presently unaware of the wax condition in your ears, your physician or hearing healthcare professional can readily inform you of this after examination with an otoscope (ear light).
Hearing aid wearers must continually be on the lookout for adverse effects of earwax. When hearing aids
are inserted into the ear canals, (or earmolds in the case of BTE hearing aids), they can slide alongside or
directly into accumulated wax. The fresher the wax, the softer and more easily it can get pushed into the
sound bore (receiver) of an aid. A thin smear of earwax over the receiver (sound) tube will shut the hearing
aid down instantly.

Preventing Wax Build-up

The first defense against wax build-up is regular cleaning of your ear canals by a physician or audiologist, or
as simple as it sounds, in a shower by direct spray into the canals. The cautions here are to be careful of the
water pressure, and be certain you don’t have a hole in your eardrum, or any other condition which might
prevent such easy management of earwax.
Hearing instrument specialists are generally not trained to remove earwax, and while wax removal is within the scope of practice for audiologists, many prefer not to provide this service. In any case, you are well-advised to locate a person or office that will provide this service as needed. Attempting to control build-up of earwax by regular use of cotton swabs is not recommended. Aside from the possibility of doing physical damage to the ear canal or drum (the “don’t put anything in your ear smaller than your elbow” concept), cotton swabs will usually only serve to pack the wax deeper with each attempt. By looking into the ear, professionals can readily discern the cotton swab users, as the wax shows a nicely formed concave surface down in the ear canal.
Some hearing aid wearers with chronic wax problems may find regular use of “ear lavage” effective. Equipment along with instructions for home use are available in many hearing care offices and drug stores. Wax softeners for use prior to cleaning can also be purchased. Some people may be uncomfortable
squirting water into the ear canal. A discussion with your physician would be advisable before attempting it. The main problem with this type of treatment is the difficulty knowing when the wax is all out.
The second defense against wax blockage is utilization of some type of wax guard for your hearing aid. There are a number of commercially available products which suit this purpose.

Many manufacturers now provide such a device on their hearing aids. Directly, or under magnification,
you can look into the sound opening of the hearing aid to see if a wax guard is there. These common devices
include “spring,” “Band-Aid” or “trap-door” style guards. All such devices should be discussed with
your hearing health care provider who can explain service requirements.

Responsibility for Wax Maintenance

Whomever dispensed your hearing aids does not have the primary responsibility to keep them free of earwax.You need to develop a daily habit of inspecting the end of the hearing aid where the sound comes out and looking for wax blockage. If accumulation is noticed, this wax can be readily removed in most cases

by the hearing aid wearer with tools provided by the hearing healthcare professional. Remember, periodic
check-ups (every 3-6 months) with your hearing health care professional are recommended.After you have been fit with hearing aids, be sure your hearing healthcare professional demonstrates how to clean your hearing aids using tools which normally come with the purchase of hearing aids.

When and How to Remove Wax

The best time to inspect hearing aids for wax is at the end of the day. At this time, any accumulated wax will still be soft and more easily removed. If you use the Band-Aid style guard, you can wipe across it gently. After a few days if you observe the cushion separating from the adhesive backing, remove it altogether and replace. If used properly, you’ll never need to clean out the receiver (loud speaker) which is the rubber
housing hole at the tip of an aid.
If your hearing aids have the wire coil in them, you may use a device known as a wax loop. This is merely
a wire looped around the end of a piece of plastic. Gently insert it into the receiver tube, turn it one full
rotation, then remove. Avoid picking or poking. Clean any debris from the loop. Nightly cleaning has the
added advantage of keeping the receiver tube open for more adequate ventilation and drying. Review this
procedure carefully and thoroughly with your hearing healthcare provider so that inadvertently you don’t
damage your hearing aids by cramming the wax loop into the wrong opening (such as the microphone port
on the face of the hearing aid) or too deeply into the receiver port which can damage the speaker diaphragm.
Additionally, a wax tool that is a little too large to fit readily into the receiver tube can push the tube itself down into the shell of the hearing aid. This will damage the aid, often causing it to squeal, resulting in needed repairs.Wax should also be removed from hearing aid vents. This is the other port in the hearing aid next to the receiver (loud speaker) port. It can be identified because vents are longer, they do not have a rubber housing through the channel, and often run the length of the earpiece or ear mold. This also means they’re not as easily cleaned. Some people have resorted to the use of wires of various gauges to ream out vents. Wire should be used with caution as it can crack the shell. Large vents are less likely to get plugged up and much easier to clean. Pipe cleaners work extremely well for large vents, such as ITE's, and light gauge fishing line for vents in CICs. Your provider will have suggestions for obtaining these and other suitable tools for cleaning.Sometimes, wax build-up becomes dry and flaky before it’s removed. When this happens, a good brushing of the hearing aid openings can be helpful in addition to use of the wire loop. When brushing, always hold the hearing aid upside down so that wax particles fall out of, rather than down into, the hearing aid. Also, keep your brush clean so that wax particles which collect in the bristles from previous brushing aren't injected inadvertently into the openings.

Your Guide to Care and Maintenance of Hearing Aids

If you are a new hearing aid user or even if you've had your hearing aids for a while you may need a guide 

to help you care for and maintain your hearing aids in top condition. Here are some of the main issues that 

you need to know and understand to get the most from your amplification.

In this post we address eight main issues:

  1) Batteries, 2) ear wax, 3) ear mold/venting issues, 4) moisture/corrosion/dirt/intermittent, 5) telephone use, 6) feedback, 7) static/noise, and 8) prevention.

If you need help with any of these you may consult the blogger at the given email.

Issues with batteries include the following: Dead and defective batteries, getting the most
out of your batteries, batteries in backwards, spent batteries, defective batteries, short battery life,
conserving battery life, safety issues with batteries.

Issues with ear wax include: earwax obstruction, preventing wax build-up, when and how to
remove wax.

Ear mold and venting issues include (comfort & sound quality): ear discomfort, causes
of ear discomfort, correcting a hearing aid fitting problem, plugged up vents.

Moisture, Corrosion, Dirt & related intermittent:Moisture problems, resolving moisture
problems, effects of moisture, dirty volume control, dirty battery, problem of oily skin.

Telephone issues: Poor telephone reception, telecoil circuit, successful use of the telecoil circuit,
other tips for improved telephone listening.

Feedback Issues: Hearing aid squeal (acoustic feedback), acceptable versus unacceptable feedback,
earwax and feedback, solving the feedback problem, feedback with new hearing aids, feedback and
telephone use.

Static and other unwanted sounds: Wind noise, background noise.

Preventive hearing aid maintenance: Spare set of hearing aids, hearing aid disuse and longevity.

HOW WE HEAR

                                

                          How We Hear?

First, here are the parts of the ear:
                  

                                          

• The outer ear
• The outer ear is made up of the ear flap and the ear canal up to the eardrum.
• The ear flap is also called the auricle or pinna.
• The eardrum is also called the tympanic membrane.
• The outer ear protects the middle and inner ears.
• The middle ear

• The middle ear is made up of three tiny bones and the Eustachian tube.
• The Eustachian tube connects the middle ear to the back of the throat. It opens and closes to make the pressure between the inner and outer ears the same.
• Three tiny bones connect the eardrum to the inner ear. The bones are called the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrup (stapes).
• 
  
• The inner ear
• The inner ear is made of the vestibular apparatus and the cochlea.
• The vestibular apparatus is three looping canals. They control your balance.
• The cochlea turns sound into electrical signals that get sent to the brain. The cochlea is spiral-shaped.

Now, here's how sounds get from the outside to our brains.

1. Sound moves from the outside to your outer ear.
• The outer ear passes sound to the middle ear.
2. Your middle ear passes sound to your inner ear.
• Sound makes your eardrum vibrate like a drum.
• The vibrations pass to the three tiny bones behind the eardrum. (These are the hammer, anvil and stirrup.)
• The bones pass the vibrations to the inner ear.
3. The vibrations go to the cochlea in your inner ear.
• Tiny hair cells in the cochlea pick up the vibrations.
• The hair cells turn the vibrations into electrical signals.
• The electrical signals are sent to the auditory nerve, and then the brain.
4. Your brain decides what the sound is.
• The auditory cortex is the part of the brain where the signals are put with other information. The other information could be what you see, and your memories.
• This helps us to "know" what we're hearing. (For example, you hear a car honk and think, "That's a car honking.")

 

How Our Hearing Changes As We Grow?

A child's hearing changes a lot until he is 4 to 8 years old. 
Your child can hear things even before he's born. 
After he's born, here's how his hearing changes:

At birth:

• Responds to loud noises                                                   
• Turns to the sound of his parents' voice

3 to 6 months:                                                                      

• Can hear softer sounds
• Can tell one sound from another
• Still can't hear all sounds

 

The Sounds We Hear

Facts about sound

• Sound travels through the air as waves you can't see.
• The faster the waves are, the higher the sound.
• How fast a sound travels is called its frequency.
  Frequency (or pitch) is also how high or low a sound is.
• High-pitched sounds (like a squeal) have a higher frequency.
• Low-pitched sounds (like thunder) have a lower frequency.
• Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz).
• The bigger the waves, the louder the sound.
• The loudness of sound is measured in decibels (dB).

What people with normal hearing can hear?
People with normal hearing can hear from about 0 dB to 140 dB. 
Here's how loud those sounds can be:

Sound	Loudness, in dB
Whisper	About 20 dB
Refrigerator humming	About 40 dB
Normal conversation	About 60 dB
Noise of traffic in the city	About 80 dB
Lawn mower	About 90 dB
Chainsaw	About 110 dB
Firecracker	About 140 dB

People with normal hearing can hear sounds as low as 20 Hz. 
Some can hear as high as 20,000 Hz. Here's how high or low those sounds can be:

Sound	High or low sounds, in Hz
Thunder	20 Hz to 80 Hz
Talking	250 Hz to 6,000 Hz
Opera singer hitting a high note	2,000 Hz

What children with hearing loss can hear?     

• Each child's hearing loss is different.                                                    
• Some children with hearing loss can hear some sounds.
• How well a child can hear affects how well he can understand when people talk.
• Some children can hear sounds at a lower frequency better than at a higher frequency.
• Most words are made up of high-frequency sounds.
• "S" and "f" are high-frequency sounds.
  These are harder to hear.
• If you can't hear high-frequency sounds, understanding what people say is hard.
• Vowel sounds like "u" have a low frequency. 
  These are easier to hear than high-frequency sounds.