Hearing Aids.....( Part 01 )

Introduction:

A Woman Wearing a Hearing Aid.

Hearing loss can have a big impact on our daily life, from our work to our relationships and emotional well-being. Hearing aids can make a big difference, especially if we pick the right ones and get help adjusting to them.

A hearing aid is a small, wearable, electronic device that can be worn in or behind the ear. It makes some sounds louder so that a person with hearing loss can listen, communicate, and participate more fully in daily activities. A hearing aid can help people hear more in both quiet and noisy situations.

Different Types of Hearing Aids.

Benefits of Hearing Aid:

Hearing aids won't make the hearing perfect, but they make sounds louder and clearer, reducing the impact hearing loss has on our life. Research on people with hearing loss and their significant others has shown that hearing aids play a significant factor in a person's social, emotional, psychological and physical well-being. More specifically, treatment of hearing loss has been shown to improve:

·         Communication in relationships

·         Intimacy and warmth in family relationships

·         Ease in communication

·         Earning power

·         Sense of control over your life

·         Social participation

·         Emotional stability

Problems in Hearing:

Hearing aids are designed to compensate for hearing loss caused by parts of the hearing system that are not working effectively. Deficits may affect all sounds or be limited to specific sounds. 

Anatomy of the Ear Hair Cells.

Hearing aids are primarily useful in improving the hearing and speech comprehension of people who have hearing loss that results from damage to the small sensory cells in the inner ear, called hair cells. This type of hearing loss is called sensorineural hearing loss. 

Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

The damage can occur as a result of:

Ø  Disease

Ø  Aging

Ø  Injury from loud noise

Ø  Certain medicines.

Hearing loss that’s due to problems with the ear canal, eardrum, or middle ear is called conductive hearing loss. Most of the time, surgery or other medical help can make it better. But those options aren’t right for everyone. If you have an open ear canal and a relatively normal external ear, a hearing aid may help.

Some people are born without an external ear or ear canal, which means they can’t use a typical hearing aid. Instead, they may be able to use a device that sends sound to the inner ear through the bone of their skull.

Conductive Hearing Loss & Sensorineural Hearing Loss.

A hearing aid magnifies sound vibrations entering the ear. Surviving hair cells detect the larger vibrations and convert them into neural signals that are passed along to the brain. The greater the damage to a person’s hair cells, the more severe the hearing loss, and the greater the hearing aid amplification needed to make up the difference. However, there are practical limits to the amount of amplification a hearing aid can provide. In addition, if the inner ear is too damaged, even large vibrations will not be converted into neural signals. In this situation, a hearing aid would be ineffective.

Working Principle:

Fundamentally, a hearing aid has three basic parts: a microphone, amplifier, and speaker.

·   Firstly, sound is taken in through a miniature microphone where the sound is converted into an electronic, digital signal.

·    Secondly, the signal is processed, boosted (amplified) and modified to meet the needs of the user’s hearing loss by a chip - processor.

·     Finally, a receiver (miniature loudspeaker) sends the processed sound through the type of ear fitting appropriate for the hearing aid system. 

Note: -

v  The audiology professional who tests the hearing, will discuss whether and what type of hearing aids would help based not only on the hearing loss but also on the lifestyle needs. Importantly, if the hearing loss in both ears as most people do, it should be expected to use two hearing aids; one hearing aid is almost always inadequate.

v  An otolaryngologist is a physician who specializes in ear, nose, and throat disorders and will investigate the cause of the hearing loss. An audiologist is a hearing health professional who identifies and measures hearing loss and will perform a hearing test to assess the type and degree of loss.

v  It takes time to get used to new hearing aids, and you will probably need to have your hearing professional fine-tune them once or more after you’ve had some experience with them. It’s quite normal for changes to be made after fitting as everyone is an individual and usually benefits from hearing aids being as personalized as possible.

v  All digital hearing aids have different settings for different environments, like in a group, one-to-one conversation, in a quiet room or in noisier places. Make sure that your audiologist explains all your options when they fit your hearing aids. Always remember that they are your hearing aids, programmed to meet your individual needs.

v  Most hearing aids have a ‘T’ (telecoil) programme for use with a hearing loop found in very many public places where you see the hearing loop sign. A telecoil is a small coil inside the hearing aids. The coil works as a small receiver which picks up signals from a loop system that acts as an electromagnetic field. Hearing aids with an activated telecoil can convert this electromagnetic field into a sound signal.

Telecoil Symbol.

Location of  the Telecoil in a Hearing Aid.

v  Make sure that you ask your audiologist if your hearing aids can be programmed so that the ‘T’ setting is activated. This will mean you can use them with hearing loops in public places and with ‘hearing aid compatible’ landline phones.

v  If your hearing aids don’t have a ‘T’ setting, ask about the best setting for telephone use. For mobile phones, you should ask how your mobile phone can connect wirelessly to your hearing aids as you can with many modern hearing aids.


                 Click Here to Read about the Types and Styles of Hearing Aids in Part 02 ..........

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