How a Hearing Specialist Can Help You Improve Your Quality of Life

Research shows that millions of people in the United States have mild hearing loss. It affects all age groups, making it one of the most common conditions you can develop in your lifetime. However, the underlying issue is that hearing loss of all categories can impact your quality of life. Fortunately, technology makes your daily activities and interactions better while experiencing problems with your auditory system. That is where the hearing instrument specialist (HIS) comes into the picture – to provide you with the guidance needed to treat hearing loss.

Accurate Hearing Assessments

The primary role of a hearing instrument specialist is to conduct a thorough auditory assessment of your ears. These are a series of tests to identify any problems you may have with your hearing. You may not have full-blown hearing loss, but some changes in your auditory capabilities may suggest the condition’s onset. The hearing instrument specialist will pick on that and provide the needed interventions. These hearing tests go beyond just a physical check of your ears. First, the specialist does speech recognition tests to determine how quickly your brain interprets sound signals. Combining these assessments helps the HIS determine the degree and type of loss you may be experiencing. That becomes the foundation for developing a tailored plan to meet your unique hearing needs.

Fitting And Programming Hearing Aids

These devices are effective solutions to improve hearing among people experiencing auditory loss. Many who have had their hearing aids fitted testify to their effectiveness in improving quality of life. However, wearing hearing aids alone is not an assurance of improved hearing. These devices must be programmed and fine-tuned to your specific needs beforehand. The hearing instrument specialist is the professional to rely on for this. Your degree of hearing through these devices may differ from others, making it inadvisable to use another person’s hearing aids.

Proper adjustment and programming consider certain factors. These include:

Lifestyle

Preferences

Degree Of Hearing Loss

Age

It is easy to assume that lifestyle and preferences have no bearing on fitting and programming, but they do. These factors will help shape the listening experience you have with your hearing aids, making it a priority to get the settings right.

Counseling and Education

Aside from detecting and managing your hearing loss, your hearing instrument specialist also plays a key role in counseling. The specialist must help you understand your hearing condition and the potential causes to provide you with the needed guidance and put your mind at ease. People experiencing mild to profound hearing loss admit feeling left out of conversations and social interactions. The ripple effect is withdrawal, depression, impacted confidence and low self-esteem. That is where counseling and education come into the picture. The hearing instrument specialist’s role is not necessarily the type a psychologist offers.

On the contrary, they counsel and educate by helping you adopt strategies to fit in social settings. Education empowers you to navigate the not-so-smooth terrain of trying to effectively contribute to conversations and social interactions. The hearing instrument specialist teaches you to understand your devices. You will learn how to properly insert and remove the devices, how to maintain them and how to adjusts the technology.

Hearing Protection, Enhancement and Prevention

It is vital to know about protective measures even when your hearing is impacted. Your hearing may not have left entirely, so there is an increased risk of causing further damage to them in certain situations. Noise-induced hearing loss is gradual, so the HIS will recommend ways to preserve and protect the little natural auditory levels left. That includes avoiding noisy places like construction sites or concerts. If you must be at any of these places, they will advise you to make maximum use of sound-blocking ear protectors.

The hearing instrument specialist will also recommend devices that complement your hearing aids in different situations. Some of these are captioned or amplified telephones and Bluetooth connectivity solutions that work well with your TV, smartphones and other digital devices. These are known as assistive listening devices and come of great use when needed.

The long-term preservation of your natural hearing is a matter to take seriously. Sometimes, however, certain factors lead to varying levels of hearing loss. If that happens, the hearing instrument specialist can help improve your quality of life. Learn more about Sound Choice Hearing or book an appointment to check your ears. Call us at (505) 565-7960.