Custom hearing aids are the solution of a life to those who have the problem of hearing. In contrast to over-the-counter hearing aids, custom aids will be custom made to the individual shape of your ear, and will thus be more comfortable and make a better sound picture. Nonetheless, lots of individuals do not know what the fitting process entails. When you are considering hearing custom hearing aids, it is necessary that you gain some idea of what to expect in the course of that fitting.
This paper will give you a step-by-step experience of how custom hearing aids fitting takes place beginning with the first consultation to the last adjustment. You are either buying your first pair or selling your old ones to upgrade to something different, learning about this will make you feel well-informed and informed.
1. Initial Consultation: Understanding Your Hearing Needs
Preliminary appointment with an audiologist is the initial stage of getting custom hearing aids. In this visit the audiologist will perform comprehensive test on hearing to determine the extent of hearing loss and speak about your personal needs. Such step is vital in finding out the most suitable kind of hearing aids that fits you.
Consultation can involve a conduct of series of hearing tests to determine your hearing capacity to different pitches and volumes. Your audiologist will use these results in determining the best hearing aids depending on your profile of losing hearing.
Besides the tests, the audiologist will enquire about your lifestyle, preferences and any special difficulty you encounter. As an example, you frequently listen to loud surroundings, or you may require hearing aids to have a faint discussion? The questions provided an answer to the features that the audiologist will choose including noise reduction, directional microphones, and compatibility with Bluetooth to ensure that the custom hearing aids readily fit your needs.
To read more about this pre-fit process see the custom hearing aids fitting page.
2. Ear Impression for Custom-Fit Hearing Aids
When your hearing loss has been determined, the procedure whereby an ear impression is developed follows. This is where opening up the actual customisation starts. The audiologist will have a detailed impression of your ear canal using a soft material which becomes hard after being introduced in your ear canal. This mould will help your hearing aids to fit comfortably and snugly thus avoiding any form of discomfort when wearing this hearing aid.
It is also painless and does not usually take longer than a couple of minutes. The impact uses the special shapes of your ear to make the personalized hearing aids as comfortable as possible. These impressions are then communicated to the manufacturer who will now manufacture the hearing aids basing on your ears shape.
3. Choosing the Right Style and Features
Now that you have the ear impression in your hand it is time to pick the style of your custom hearing aids. A number of the styles have been provided with each having its own advantage. Some popular styles are:
- In-the-Ear (ITE): They are hearing aids that are attached to the outer hear but upon usage they are easy to see.
- In-the-Canal (ITC): These are smaller ones and partially fit within the ear canal.
- Completely-in-the-Canal (CIC): These are the smallest and the least noticeable, as they perfectly enter the ear canal.
The audiologist will assist you to select an appropriate pair depending on some factors such as hearing loss, shape of ears and personal preference. The style of your preference will determine not only its comfort but also the features you are going to borrow with the hearing aids, including battery powered hearing aids, wireless connectivity hearing aids as well as noise reduction technology.
4. Programming the Hearing Aids
When the custom hearing aids are constructed, your audiologist will set them in accordance to the hearing test results. Hearing aids nowadays are programmable at the frequency and that you will be able to hear well in all the frequencies. Computer programming is simply the setting of volume and frequency response to suit your own preferences of sound.
In this step, your audiologist might also request you to give feedback. This will make the settings as near to what you like as it can be. You might be requested to even wear the he
aring aids for a short period during the fitting to identify any adjustments needed in real-time.
5. Fitting and Initial Adjustment
Fitting session is a visit where you will wear your tailor-made country hearing aids the first time. The audiologist will also fix the hearing aids in your ears and make sure that they fit in your ears comfortably. All changes or slight pains are dealt with at this session.
It is this time as well that one is supposed to test out the hearing aids on a variety of settings. To make sure that the hearing aids are adapted to real life situations your audiologist might simulate various sound environments including quiet and busy places. They will make an excellent performance optimization by tweaking the programming or fit further upon need.
6. Fine-Tuning and Personalisation
Although the initial fitting session is vital, it is not rare that you require additional adjustments as time goes by. You may feel differently in relation to your hearing aids and you may find that there is room to better them. This is where the fine-tuning comes by.
Fine-tuning means tweaking a little on the input of the hearing aids depending on their real time performances. You might have to increase or decrease the sound, alter the setting of particular surroundings, or alter the speech clearness. The significant majority of current hearing aids permit remote fine-tuning and this means that the audiologist is able to fine-tune without needing the patient to visit the facility again.
7. Ongoing Support and Follow-Up Care
fitting is not complete when the initial adjustment is made. You need to have follow up visits with your audiologist on a regular basis to ascertain that your hearing aids are functioning as they should be. In the course of these visits, the audiologist is capable of ensuring the state of the devices, cleaning them and exchanging the worn components.
Several audiologists will train you so that you can use them to the best advantage as well. This training could include such aspects as customization of the settings, operating some advanced features such as Bluetooth connectivity or learning how to overcome minor challenges.
8. Maintaining Your Custom Hearing Aids
Personal hearing aids need frequent care in order to restore them in their good condition. This involves periodic cleaning of the hearing aids, the changing of batteries and safe keeping of the aids during non usage.
Audiologists will also give you recommendations on hearing aid care and even clean them and provide them with cleaning equipment. Regular cleaning of your hearing aids is necessary but in addition, you should visit the office of your local hearing care specialist every after some number of months to ensure that everything is alright with your hearing aids.
9. The Long-Term Benefits of Custom Hearing Aids
After the adjustment has been done and you are fully adjusted to wearing your tailor-made hearing aids, you will start experiencing the following long-term advantages. Some of the benefits include increased clarity of sound, ability to hear in difficult situations and general comfort.
Besides this, custom hearing aids provide convenience and performance that are far exceeding than what over-the-counter models can provide. As you get fit to the devices, you will realize that your quality of life will improve and you will be in a position to be able to stay in touch with your loved ones and participate more in day to day activities..
10. Your Journey to Better Hearing
The process of acquiring custom hearing aids is long and needs patience. Although the actual process of fitting would be simple, the actual advantage would be adaptation to the appliance and the adjustments that can be made with time. Proper support will make you hear better and have a more enjoyable life.
With the knowledge of how the process of custom fitting hearing aids goes, you can be sure of the right choice. Having the right hearing aids and enough training with your audiologist, you can embark on a hearing experience of better sound and better life.
Want to learn more? Head over to our website. whatutalkingboutfamily.com