4 Reasons Why Follow-up Care is So Critical to Hearing Aid Performance

Описание: 4 Reasons Why Follow-up Care is So Critical to Hearing Aid Performance. Dr. Cliff Olson, Audiologist and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions, discusses why follow-up care is so critical to optimal hearing aid performance.

Website: https://www.DrCliffAuD.com

Clinic Website: https://www.AppliedHearingAZ.com

I often talk about how important customized hearing aid fitting an programming using Real Ear Measurement is, but I don't talk enough about the critical importance of follow-up care. There are 4 main reasons why you should be seeing your hearing care professional no less than 2 times per year:

1. Your ears are GROSS! - Most people produce significant amounts of earwax and this earwax can block your ear canals and stop sound from your hearing aids which can limit your benefit. In most states, Audiologists are licensed to perform professional earwax removal (aka Cerumen Management) that can keep your ears nice and clean so earwax doesn't block the sound coming from your hearing aids.

2. Your hearing aids are also GROSS! - Hearing aids are precision medical devices that are not intended to go for long periods of time without maintenance. My guess is that you clean your car more often than you clean your hearing aids. Even if you do clean your hearing aids, your hearing care professional can do it better. The will often disassemble your devices and clean out every last speck of debris so it doesn't degrade the sound quality of your hearing aids.

3. Your hearing aids will eventually malfunction. - Hearing aids are designed to function within a specific set of parameters, and even slight deviations from these parameters can reduce your benefit from those devices. Reduction in overall output (Max OSPL & HFA), or an increase in Total Harmonic Distortion, or Equivalent Input Noise (EIN) can cause a reduction in your hearing aid performance without you even knowing it. Your hearing care professional can perform Electroacoustic Analysis (EAA) to ensure that your devices are performing up to specs.

4. Your hearing can change. - Just because your hearing loss was at one level last year, doesn't mean that it hasn't changed since then. Even a small change in your hearing ability can change your hearing loss prescription. If your prescription has changed, then your hearing aids need to be reprogrammed. If you have a confirmed hearing loss, you should be getting your hearing tested every year to monitor changes.

The vast majority of hearing aid users see their hearing care professional at least 2 times per year, and so should you. This will help to keep your hearing devices performing at their optimal level. So unless you want to spend thousands of dollars on hearing devices only to have them perform like a crappy pair of online amplifiers, then I recommend you see your hearing care professional more often.