Reading the audiology news over the last weeks (now about the only news I listen to), I came across a few announcements regarding three players in the Over-the-Counter (OTC) hearing aid movement. I’ve been actively following the OTC movement, as I’m always interested in anything that can help more people hear better. These three companies […]
Hearing loss affects people of all ages and can happen when any part of the ear or auditory system is not working properly. The four most basic categories of hearing loss are conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss, mixed hearing loss, and auditory neural spectrum disorder. Hearing loss can be caused by many different factors, […]
One of the latest programs to hit the hearing aid market is something called a third-party discount program. Because these programs have raised several questions, we thought we’d provide a better understanding of how these discount programs work. The Origin of Discount Hearing Aid Programs Discount programs started showing up a few years ago. They were marketed […]
Any sound that’s too loud can damage your hearing permanently. The more intense or loud the noise is, the faster damage occurs. This is commonly referred to as noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), and it’s an everyday occurrence in our modern world. The longer the noise goes on, the worse the damage will be. There are […]
Now this is a question I literally get every single day. People are always wanting to know what the best size hearing aid is. I’ll hear things like, “Well my friend has the over-the-ear kind, and is pretty happy. But I really want something that nobody can see.” So it’s a fair question. What is […]
We know, this sounds like it would be something that rarely happens. While we certainly wouldn’t call it an everyday occurrence, it does happen more than one might think. From bugs to buttons, to Tic Tacs, to any number of other things—gross and otherwise—getting things stuck in your ear does happen. The question is, what do you […]
Those of you who have hearing aids are very likely familiar with wax filters or wax guards. For those of you who don’t know, a wax filter is a very small piece of plastic that’s inserted into the speaker of a hearing aid. The goal of the wax filter is to keep wax from reaching […]
One of the things I seem to hear more often than not, especially from proponents of Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids, is that they are for “perceived mild to moderate hearing loss”, which seems to completely discount the need for a full diagnostic hearing evaluation, or, in layman terms, “a good hearing test.” My goal here […]
As I think about this issue, I can almost hear the panic in my patient’s voices when they call on the phone. “I’ve lost my hearing aid! Now, what do I do?” For many of my patients, this is a terrifying thought. They have already spent a significant amount of money on their hearing aids […]
If you are severely hard of hearing or deaf, you may be a candidate for a cochlear implant. Unlike hearing aids, cochlear implants do not make sounds louder. They do, however, allow people to experience the sensation of sound by directly stimulating the auditory nerve. What Are Cochlear Implants, and How Do They Work? Cochlear […]
