It is predicted that about 70% of hearing aids have not been set to prescription which means the majority of people are still struggling to hear their best, even when wearing their hearing aids. This also causes dissatisfaction with hearing aids, meaning that people leave their hearing aids in the drawer instead of wearing them. But perhaps even more importantly, not being set to prescription can also lead to negative impacts in the brain. These brain changes can include reducing the number of nerves, and nerve connections, not only in the hearing centres of the brain, but in the brain overall, and in fact can even impact memory. This greatly reduces the brain’s ability to understand sound and speech, especially when there is background noise.
Many people don’t know that their hearing aids need to have their prescription placed into their hearing aid with Real Ear Measures. These measures make sure your hearing aids are performing optimally and providing you with your best ability to hear. Everybody’s hearing loss is different, the shape of their ears and ear canals are different, and therefore the hearing aid fitting prescription needs to be tailored to these individual needs. This is where Real Ear Measures come into play through tailoring the hearing aid fitting to the individual ear/s.
Research showed that when a low technology hearing aid was set to a person’s prescription using Real Ear Measures it out-performed higher technologies with increasing the ability to hear speech well in background noise environments, than those that were just set with the computer’s estimation. When the higher technology levels then had Real Ear Measures run, the technology was able to work amazingly well and the person’s ability to hear speech in background noise greatly improved. This means anybody who purchases these higher technology hearing aids without Real Ear Measures don’t receive all the benefits they are paying for.
At Conversations Hearing, we are one of the few hearing care providers to ensure all our clients’ hearing aids are set to their prescription target and therefore receiving the optimal performance from their hearing aids.
If you feel you, or someone you know, are not getting the benefit you need from your hearing aids or you want to purchase hearing aids through a hearing provider that follows best practices – make an appointment with Shevawn by calling 5356 9385 or pop into Conversations Hearing in Beerwah Marketplace, next to the butchers.
