Month: March 2024

Going for a hearing test is a wise thing for anyone to do as they get older, not least if you do have a feeling that you are not hearing as well as you used to.  

If you feel this is happening to you, even a little bit, this is reason enough to get your hearing checked to see if there is a problem that can be fixed, or if you might need a hearing aid.  

A recent article in the Huffington Post listed four particular warning signs, all of which it said were ‘red flags’ that indicated people experiencing them should get their ears checked out urgently. Not doing so could make the problem much worse.

The first of these is struggling to follow what is being said to you in a conversation, described to the paper by director of Audiology Access & Standard of Care for Cochlear Americas Terry Zwolan as a “big one”.

He stated: “This can include finding it difficult to hear in the presence of background noise, and regularly asking people to repeat what they’ve said or mishearing often.”

A second common sign is when you need to turn the TV or radio up louder than you used to, which you might only notice when you see the numbers on the volume control that you have raised it to. Others may bring the matter to your attention by stating that it is too loud for them.

Ringing in the ears is another common problem. This is a condition known as tinnitus and while it can sometimes be only temporary, it may be persistent and a sign that something is seriously wrong. Tinnitus isn’t always a sign of hearing loss, but it could be – and you should certainly get checked out if the problem persists.

The fourth problem raised in the article was difficulty in hearing common everyday sounds. It quoted audiologist Amy Bishop, who said: “Some folks say they have trouble hearing common everyday sounds, like their turn signal, boiling water, or the laundry machine chime.”

If you suffer from one of these issues, it does not mean your hearing is necessarily in terminal decline. For example, you may have a problem like excessive ear wax, which can impede your hearing unless it is removed.

Should this be necessary, you should let the professionals do this as most DIY attempts to remove earwax can be counterproductive. They can damage the drum or ear canal, or push wax further in (such as trying to gouge them out with cotton wool buds). Severe ear wax can be a particular problem as a total blockage can lead to an infection.

Ear wax is not the only possible cause of infection and if this is the case, treatment may help restore your hearing fully. Neglecting such a problem, on the other hand, could lead to matters getting worse and permanent damage, maybe even complete loss of hearing in an ear, as a result.

If you do find you need help such as a hearing aid, do not despair; it is better to know this and you should not feel stigmatised. It is better to have a hearing aid than to struggle with an everyday sense that you had previously taken for granted.

If you are suffering from hearing loss, it makes sense to get hearing aids. Rather than struggling to get by and asking people to repeat themselves, you can enjoy the benefits of having your hearing restored to what it used to be.

However, this can bring a problem. Hearing loss is associated with ageing and many people will accept this as a part of getting older in later life, for younger folk who develop hearing impairments, the wearing of a visible aid can bring a sense of embarrassment and stigma.

There are various solutions to this, of course. Some learn to embrace it and live with it, regarding it the same way as wearing glasses. Others, especially women, might grow their hair longer and fuller to hide it.

However, these responses all depend on the assumption that their hearing aids will be very obviously visible, sticking out like a sore thumb and therefore being a constant source of insecurity or even embarrassment.  

What many do not know is what invisible hearing aids could do for them. The fact that these exist at all, let alone being available in different varieties from various makers, is not widely known.

They are not invisible because of some new technology taken from the pages of sci-fi novels or adapted from some advanced military technology; instead, they are located entirely inside the ear canal, with no external parts whatsoever.

If you have one of these fitted, you can keep your need for a hearing aid entirely secret from whoever you wish. The only clue is a tiny, inconspicuous wire leading to the outer ear that enables you to remove the aid when necessary.

What should be noted about these concealed hearing aids is that the reason it is possible to hide them in the ear canal is due to their smaller scale, which does bring some compromises. It means the battery capacity and overall power is less, which does restrict them to those with mild to moderate hearing loss.

The idea of innovative hearing aids that are hard to spot does not stop there, of course. A Bloomberg subscriber-only newsletter has claimed that air pods, currently used as wireless means of listening to music or the radio, could be adapted to act as hearing aids, with an embedded ‘hearing aid’ mode.

According to newsletter writer Mark Gurman, Apple’s new iOS 18 AirPods, due to be released in the autumn of 224, will have this feature.

However, as Yahoo News notes, this sort of claim has been made before and has not yet come to fruition; the Wall Street Journal predicted in 2021 that the 2022 Airpod Pro would include this feature, but it did not, which leaves open the question of whether the idea was in development and after three years of extra work will finally appear later this year.

Clearly Airpods that double as hearing aids would be a novel way of concealing a hearing issue. But you don’t need to wait to see if the speculation that proved wrong in 2021 is right this year to aid your hearing without the world being able to see.

The objective of a hearing aid is simple to explain but often surprisingly difficult to quantify, and this is one of several reasons why there are so many different types of devices available on the market and in the hands of experts.

These different types of hearing aids are more suited in terms of size, shape, form factor, features, audio level, power and functionality for different types of people with varying challenges to their hearing and lifestyle factors.

Some people need more powerful hearing aids to tackle particular hearing challenges, whilst others would like aids that are largely inconspicuous and/or can be worn for a long period of time.

Determining these needs and ensuring that someone is a candidate for hearing aids is part of the process, but determining if a particular device has helped is complex, and requires a mix of audiometry, real ear measurement and the experience of the person wearing them.

Particularly with regards to the latter, the best hearing aids for a particular person will succeed in these three ways.

 

Usage

Probably the easiest satisfaction metric to mention, the more willing someone is to use their hearing aids, the better they are serving that particular person’s needs and the more effectively they are helping to prevent further hearing difficulties.

Conversely, if someone does not want to wear their hearing aids on a regular basis, it could be a sign that there is something wrong with them that means they need alterations or even replacing entirely.

People opt not to wear their hearing aids for a range of reasons. These can include the fit, how comfortable they are not only to wear but to use, and whether they feel like they are having a meaningful effect on a person’s ability to engage with the aural world around them.

Most people will need some time to get used to their new hearing aids, and it can be common for people to build up to wearing them constantly, similar to how people take time to get used to their glasses.

However, if they are regularly not being used, this is a sign that they are not meeting a person’s needs, or in doing so is providing such discomfort that it is preferable to not wear them.

 

Recognising Speech

Much like how an eye test can determine in relatively consistent conditions how effectively a prescription pair of glasses is working, the best way to determine how well a hearing aid is working is by seeing how well it aids the recognition of speech.

A hearing instrument does more than merely amplify sound, and the complex interplay between the ear and the brain when it comes to processing speech means that the only way to know if it is installed and calibrated correctly is to have a conversation and see how easy or difficult it is to follow.

 

Satisfaction

Finally, the best judge of a hearing aid’s effectiveness is the person themselves. If they are happy with how they feel and the improvements in hearing, that is a good sign that the hearing aid is working as it should be.

This typically requires a self-report assessment in a follow-up appointment, talking about how it feels and any problems they have felt.