Hear Well Again Centers

With the Amplify program,you determine how much your new digital hearing aid will cost.

Hearing Aids May Not Be Enough

Why are hearing aids an incomplete answer for some people and not others? The answer for many is not speech discrimination or clarity but their understanding ability when in competing noise. The problem is auditory processing. Think of auditory processing as depth perception of the ears.

The major causes of hearing loss for most adults are genetics, aging and environmental stresses such as noise exposure. Many adults with a hearing loss also have some degree of auditory processing difficulty. Those with a significant auditory processing problem have considerable difficulty focusing on speech and lifting it out of the background of all competing sounds. When in quiet listening situations, hearing aids will greatly alleviate their hearing problem. However, when working or socializing in competing noise, the effectiveness of hearing aids can be reduced, depending on the wearer’s auditory processing ability.

Often, the topic of auditory processing has not been introduced to people who wear hearing aids. In addition, usually only their ability to understand speech in quiet without any competing sounds has been measured. Therefore, it’s reasonable that they think hearing aids will provide all the help they need in all listening situations they find themselves.

When their hearing aids don’t offer the same benefit in a wide variety of listening environments where they need help, it is understandable that they may become frustrated and dissatisfied with amplification. This is especially true if they also have never been introduced to listening strategies that will improve their ability to follow conversation in competing noise when wearing their hearing aids. Utilizing listening strategies takes practice. In addition, listening retraining may be necessary to improve speech understanding in noise.

For some, even the most advanced hearing aid is just that – a hearing aid. For those with significant auditory processing difficulty, their hearing aids alone cannot provide enough help in complex listening environments with competing noise. Their hearing aid’s effectiveness may need to be augmented by effective listening strategies and recognizing contextual and auditory based acoustic distinctive cues to decode speech when in noise.

At Hear Well Again Centers, when amplification is being considered, we evaluate a potential hearing aid wearer’s ability to understand speech in competing noise. If the testing shows that competing noise will dramatically reduce speech discrimination, a multi-media DVD training program is available to help hearing aid wearers retrain their brain to listen more effectively.

The information contained on this web site, is presented for the purpose of educating people on hearing loss, amplification, and balance disorders. Nothing contained on this web site should be construed nor is intended to be used for specific medical diagnosis or treatment and it should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified health care provider. Should you have any health care related questions, please call or see your physician or other qualified health care provider promptly. Always consult with your physician or other qualified health care provider before embarking on a new treatment, diet or fitness program. In case of emergency, call 911.