What Is It Really Like Using Hearing Aids?

So you must be wondering, what it would be like to use a hearing aid for the first time. Well, it’s not like you woke up on planet mars, hearing aids have been around for many decades. The very first hearing aid was the 17th century. We’ll talk about that more. But we know that someone who has never come into contact with a hearing aid, might have some bizarre and unfounded ideas about them. 

Some people think they’re going to be heavy, they take forever to clean, you have to update them every other year or that they will be uncomfortable to wear. In some respects, we can think of them like glasses. Most people get used to wearing glasses in no less than a week or so. Let’s look at this further.

The History of Hearing Aids

Up until the late 16th century, people associated many illnesses and conditions with people who could not hear properly. Hearing aids and the profession of an audiologist wasn’t as well known or even thought of back then. Because most people who could not hear, could not speak properly, had trouble bonding with others and could not find work, they are alienated and stigmatized. 

But at the turn of the 17th century, more research was being done on hearing loss and the very first hearing aids became available in the middle of the century. This was pretty much at the turn of the industrial revolution in about 1760, when hearing aids of all kinds were being sold around the United Kingdom and America. These were simple metal tubes and what could be described as megaphones, that the user put to one ear with their hand and was able to hear better. 

Fast forward to now, hearing aids are some of the most complex but easy to use pieces of technology in the world. The stigma of needing a hearing aid is long gone. No one in modern society thinks twice about communicating with someone who wears hearing aids. Hearing loss, how the ear functions and the things that can cause hearing loss are now widely known by the majority of the population. So, you should have no hesitation in wearing one yourself.

How Life Changes When Wearing a Hearing Aid

Well it would be wrong of us to say that life changes, because it actually goes back to normal. With a hearing aid that suits your needs, is shaped to your ear, has the kind of modern technology that our experts recommend, you should be able to hear just as well as a person with perfect hearing. The quality should be just as good, if not better in some respects. Unlike the normal human ear, hearing aids can attune their frequency, so you can actually hear sounds that someone else without hearing impairment cannot or doesn’t notice often.

However, our customers say that it is exactly like their experience with wearing glasses. It’s normal to see someone wearing glasses, so why should you think of yourself as any different? Your sight goes back to normal or slightly better, and so does your hearing with a hearing aid. All you need to do now, is remember that you have glasses on. 

This is the same for a hearing aid. So that means, try not to fiddle with your ears, if you need to scratch an itch, then remember to take out the hearing aid first. Handle them with care. Clean them regularly and inspect them for wear and tear. Honestly, it’s not rocket science and they fit into our modern lifestyles.

How to Get Fitted for a Hearing Aid

Once again, think of it like you would for getting fit for glasses. We do some preliminary tests to find the cause of the hearing impairment. So, we’ll ask you some lifestyle questions regarding your family history, your work, leisure activities, past incidents of note and other questions about you and your personality.

We want to make sure that we fit you for the right kind of hearing aid, so we put in front of you some categorical options. The main three are in the canal (ITC), in the ear (ITE) and behind the ear (BTE). Each one is different in terms of size, complexity, price range and power or sensitivity.

Please speak with us about your hearing aid needs. We’re happy to start a conversation with you about your or a family member’s hearing loss. To learn more about The Hearing Clinic at Woodlake and call us today at (612) 246-4868.