It’s important to develop realistic expectations about what hearing aids can and cannot do.
- Restoring Hearing – While hearing aids can change the qualities and intensities of sounds that reach your ears, no matter how technologically advanced the hearing aids are, they cannot restore hearing to “normal.”
- Types of Hearing Aids – Not all hearing aids perform the same with every type of hearing loss.
- Hearing in Noise – No hearing aid can filter out all background noise, however some can reduce amplification of some types of background noises and provide the wearer more comfort in the presence of noise. Hearing aids with “directional microphones tend to work best for improving speech intelligibility in the presence of background noise.
- Understanding Speech – You should expect to understand speech easier.
- Sounds – Hearing aids properly programmed for your unique hearing loss should allow you to hear soft sounds easily, but to not amplify loud sounds to an uncomfortable level.
- Each Hearing Loss is Individual – Do not expect that your friend’s style or brand of hearing aid is necessarily the best solution for your loss.
- Family Doctor – Do not expect your family doctor to have expert knowledge about hearing loss and solutions, hearing aid brands, models, etc. Less that 15% even screen for hearing loss.