I often meet new patients at screenings and a few of them are wearing a hearing aid. I always ask, “Are your hearing aids working currently?”. I also ask, “When was the last time you saw your hearing health care professional about your hearing? There is one constant that I have noticed over the years. If the patient reports his or her hearing aid is not working, they usually admit they have not had their hearing aids serviced or adjusted.
Ensure Your Hearing Aids are Programed Correctly
Have your hearing aid programmed by an audiologist.
If a hearing aid is purchased, it cannot be correctly programmed if not handled by an audiologist. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the quality of their hearing.
Make sure you have regular checkups.
After getting your hearing aid programmed, it is imperative that you continue to schedule regular checkups. When a patient fails to get their hearing aids checked, they usually develop a tolerance for inefficient hearing aids. There must be consistency in regular checkups to conduct tests to analyze your hearing aid and receive real-time feedback.
Ask your audiologist how he can adjust your hearing aid.
I use different background noises, such as crowd noise, to adjust the hearing aid to thrive in all environments. These tests allow me to assess a patient’s visible speech mapping. This also helps me see the hearing aid’s performance and exhibit the strengths and weaknesses of the patient’s hearing abilities.
Have your hearing aids fine-tuned by an audiologist.
While hearing aids’ fundamentals can be adjusted by patients there some that must be modified by an audiologist. An audiologist needs to adjust the volume, frequency, intensity levels, compression ratios, max power output, noise reduction, and microphone parameters present). The goal is to fine-tune the device to a perfect fit with noise reduction and feedback reduction algorithms.
Make sure you schedule follow-up visits with your audiologist.
I recommend a minimum of two visits in the first month. At these visits, we will adjust your hearing aid to fit your needs. To monitor the adjustments needed, I recommend one visit every 3-4 months to clean and maintain your hearing aids. You should also schedule one hearing test per year to monitor your hearing acuity and update hearing aids accordingly.
Following the above recommendations reduces the risk of small problems becoming significant issues. Although programming a hearing includes a learning curve for the brain, my goal is to ensure you wear it.
Accessible Hearing Aids provides an initial consultation about your hearing health and follow-up checkups. Checkups on hearing aids are essential because your hearing will change. Dr. Joe Griffith, AuD, CCC-A, is a certified audiologist who makes “house calls”. Call him at (504) 738-4557 or visit www.accessiblehearingaids.com to schedule your hearing test today. You are just a phone call away from the hearing help you need and deserve.
