Why Should You Bring A Family Member When Getting Your Hearing Health Evaluated?

Even though a hearing evaluation is non-invasive, it’s best to bring a family member - who you regularly interact with - to your hearing test.

An Individual’s Hearing Loss affects the entire Family

People tend to get their hearing tested after months, or years, of complaints from family members who they regularly interact with. Having a family member with you during the exam gives them a chance to express their concerns with a professional. Their observations will be helpful for you, and your hearing instrument specialist, to modify your hearing aids and hearing health care plan.

Most people wait to get their hearing evaluated because they don’t think it’s important, and they don’t realize that anyone else is affected by their hearing loss. These results are from a 2009 survey from 1,500 individuals with hearing loss:   

• 44% stated that their relationships with their partner, family, or friends suffered due to their poor hearing.
• 34% stated that they lost touch with friends or their marriages ended because of communication problems caused by their hearing loss.
• 69% stated that their hearing loss prevents them from engaging in conversations.
• 52% stated that their hearing loss made them feel out of place during social interactions.   

Informing Yourself About Hearing Aids

It’s a good idea to have someone by your side to help choose a hearing aid that works best for you. You will need to determine the hearing aid manufacturer and model.  Having a second opinion from a loved one can help narrow down your choices.

While listening to your hearing instrument specialist, your family member can write down notes. Here are some questions you will want answers to before you leave the office:

• Does this hearing aid business provide a trial period to test the device that you selected? If so, please provide some details of this policy.
• How long should you wear the hearing device each day, and what are some things to expect after you start wearing them?
• Are there different settings for your hearing aids? If so, what are they and how do you switch from one setting to another?
• What advice is there on cleaning and storing your hearing aids at the end of the day?
• How long do the batteries last and how do you change them? If it is a rechargeable hearing aid, how long does a full charge last and how often should you recharge them?
• When should you return for a follow-up appointment?

Hearing Aid Options and Accessories

There are many features available, and new features that are frequently being released to enhance your hearing aids in compatibility to your digital devices. Accessories can enhance your experience to make the hearing aids easier to wear. These features and accessories vary based on the make and model of your hearing aid. Have someone with you for a second opinion as you select which accessories work best for you.

Bluetooth® streaming: Make sure that the hearing aids that you select are compatible with Bluetooth®. Using this feature with the hearing aids streaming device can enhance your cell phone conversations, or television viewing experience, at a volume level that makes everyone comfortable.

FM systems: This feature reduces distracting background noises, improves the clarity of sound and allows you to hear from a distance. This helps with lowering some of the mental exhaustion that you experience when you strain to hear.

Hearing aid dehumidifiers: Individuals who profusely sweat, reside in a humid climate, or are frequently in wet environments will probably want to get a hearing aid dehumidifier. Place your hearing aids in the dehumidifier overnight, and the moisture will be removed from your hearing aids. This will boost performance and prolong the life of your hearing aids.

Accessories for your Lifestyle: Your active lifestyle and the severity of your hearing loss and will determine what type of hearing aids you purchase. If you live an active lifestyle, you may want to invest in accessories, like sweatbands, to protect the devices. If you do not suffer from severe hearing loss that would require you to wear hearing aids, you could still invest in some assistive listening devices, such as:

• A vibrating alarm clock or doorbell used to alert you
• Safety appliances, like a flashing light or vibrating smoke and carbon monoxide detector
• Devices used to watch television - wireless headsets with individual volume controls
• Telephones that are amplified or have captioning to aid in telephone conversations

Using a Hearing Aid is just one Factor that will Help You

You use your brain to hear, so if you have had issues with hearing for a long time, your brain may have “forgotten” how to hear familiar noises. Your brain will have to relearn, and retain, some of these sounds in order to recognize them.

Hearing loss that goes untreated has been associated with depression, dementia and heart disease. Please get help for your hearing loss, so as to prevent negative impacts on your overall health.

These are several factors to take into consideration when getting your hearing health evaluated, so it is strongly advised that you bring someone for support and advice.

If you, or a loved one, are in need of a hearing evaluation, please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing Aids for a free hearing test and consultation.

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