There Are More Hearing Loss Solutions Than You Might Think

By Author: Christian Pogreba
Total Articles: 2
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When you first learn that you have hearing loss, you may expect that you’ll be fitted with a bulky hearing aid that sits behind your ear and is made of plastic that’s supposed to match your skin tone, but never quite does. However, the truth is that there are many different hearing loss solutions, and the right one for you will depend on the type and severity of your hearing loss, situations in which you have trouble hearing, and goals.

Many Types of Hearing Aids

If your hearing professional tells you that you are a good candidate for hearing aids, you have several choices to make before you can get the aid that is best suited for your needs and preferences. In addition to the behind-the-ear hearing aids, there are many types that sit only inside your ear. These may fill the whole bowl-shaped portion of your ear, just the bottom half of that, or they may even fit, nearly invisibly, into your ear canal. These types of hearing aids have different features and power for amplification, so discuss your preferences with your provider to decide on the right style.

Assistive Listening Devices

Many people ...
... with hearing loss use assistive listening devices alongside or instead of hearing aids. These devices provide specialized solutions for particular settings or hearing problems. For example, a TV or phone amplifier works with sounds coming from these devices, but not conversations you’re having in person. An FM or audio loop device has a microphone you place near a person or speaker that transmits sound to a device you wear, without picking up sounds between you and that person or speaker. Other systems convert sounds into visual stimuli, like closed captioning on TV or devices that flash a light when the doorbell rings or an alarm goes off.

Surgical Procedures

Some people with hearing loss are candidates for surgical procedures to correct the problem or implant devices to aid in restoration of some or all of their hearing. For example, cochlear implants are ideal for some people who are not candidates for regular hearing aids because of sensorineural hearing problems that prevent sound from getting from the bones in the inner ear to the nerve that transmits them to the brain. Other surgeries include a hearing aid anchored to the bone and surgeries to replace the bones in the inner ear with synthetic ones. If your hearing healthcare provider does not offer these services. They can recommend s specialist that does.

The right type of hearing loss solution varies from one person to another, so it’s important to discuss options with your provider. Together, you can devise and implement a plan to improve your ability to hear what is going on around you.

Christian Pogreba was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but has lived in Virginia for over a decade. Christian loves working with people and helping them regain the conversational ability they have lost. He realizes that as we age we have a lot to share and if we are hearing impaired, that limits our ability to have truly meaningful conversations.