Why A Hearing Aid Fitting Is Critical

If you are living with hearing loss, you may give anything to be able to have the TV at a normal volume, to be able to hear birds tweeting in your garden and to feel part of a conversation with friends. It’s crucial that you book an appointment with an audiologist to discuss your hearing aid options.

Different types of hearing aid will suit different sorts of hearing loss. The fitting of your hearing aid is critical to ensure that you benefit from the fullest range of hearing possible. Take a look at what you can expect from a hearing aid and how to maximize its success.

Before the fitting

When you attend your hearing aid fitting with your audiologist, your hearing aid will not be fitted immediately. Your audiologist will conduct some simple health checks to make sure that your ear canal is free from infection and wax. This will allow the fitting to take place unhindered. Another short hearing test may also be completed to pinpoint the sounds that you cannot hear.

Your audiologist will make a note of those soft sounds that you struggle to hear or the loudest sounds that make you feel uncomfortable. The personalization of a hearing aid fitting is critical to its success in helping you recover as much of your hearing as possible. These simple hearing tests will allow your audiologist to apply the correct settings to your hearing aid to maximize your hearing benefit.

Hearing aid types

You need to have the correct hearing aid for your hearing loss type. Some hearing aids are worn openly and are very easy to control. However, these older style hearing aids lack personalization of many newer types. Technological advancements have enabled hearing aids to be placed inside the ear canal.

These require moldings of your ear to be taken via a foam insert and a soft putty. This is painless and will enable a very small hearing aid to be custom-made for your ear. This will help you feel comfortable wearing your hearing aid and will ensure that your hearing aid helps you to hear as much as possible.

Your audiologist will conduct real-ear measures which give an indication of how loud sounds are within your ear canal. This enables the audiologist to adjust the settings of your hearing aid. The more accurate and fine-tuned it is, the better hearing quality you will enjoy.

The fit

Your audiologist will fit your hearing aid carefully and measure the sound output in your ear canal. They will play different sounds at different pitches and volumes to test what you can hear. You don’t want to be hearing everything at an increased volume or with background white noise. Your audiologist wants to create the best hearing experience for you and the hearing aid fitting is a critical part of this. Set up properly, your hearing aid will enable you to hear sounds that you had forgotten even existed. It is this adjustment period that will enable you to maintain your hearing aid correctly and help open up the world of sound to you once again.

When you head to your audiologist for your hearing aid fitting, you can feel confident that the time taken to personalize your hearing aid will be integral to perfecting your new hearing experience.