If you wear a hearing aid or are thinking about getting one, you are probably confused about the terminology concerning hearing aids. Hearing aids are very complicated and are essentially computers sitting in or behind your ear. This is a 3 part story on the basic terminology of hearing aids. I hope this helps you make an informed decision about which hearing aid is right for you.
Feedback – Feedback occurs when the sound that the hearing aid is amplified feeds back into the hearing aid. This produces very loud whistling by the hearing aids. Most hearing aids are now equipped with feedback blockers. This technology will work to detect and eliminate feedback. Some hearing aid manufactures have very good feedback managers and are able to nearly eliminate feedback.
Microphones – A hearing aid will have at least one microphone to pick up sound. Most hearing aids today have two microphones. One microphone will pick up sounds from every direction and one microphone will only pick up sound from in front. This latter type of microphone is called a directional microphone.
Listening Programs – Listening programs are configurations of the hearing aid in different environments. For example, a hearing aid may be set up with the following listening programs: Normal, Noisy and TV. In Normal mode, the hearing aid will respond to typical sounds. In Noisy mode, the directional microphones will receive more sound than the other microphone. A noisy setting is good for restaurants and other crowded environments. A TV mode, would be setup to hear the sounds from a TV or stereo. There are many different settings for a hearing aid and endless ways to be configure. Depending on the aid, there are different ways to change the listening programs. Some hearing aids require a small remote control and others have a button on the hearing aid that will change the program.
Volume Control – Some hearing aids have volume controls. Volume controls will turn up the entire volume of the hearing aid. This is a very basic, but effective way to help you hear better when you need an extra boost.
Hearing Again sells openfit hearing aids to the United States and around the World under the website www.openfit.com. Hearing Again sells Siemens, Interton and all of the major hearing aid manufactures.