Hearing Aid Success – Your Audiologist Matters

Hearing aids are a form of technology, similar to your TV or your smartphone. However, when it comes to maximising the benefit of hearing aid technology, just choosing hearing aids off the shelf (or buying off the internet) is unlikely to solve your hearing challenges satisfactorily. An important part of the process is your hearing aid consultation appointment, when we will help lead you to the technology that will best suit your hearing needs.

A successful hearing aid fitting leads to excellent long term hearing outcomes, including hearing well in the environments you are in every day, wearing the hearing aids all (or most of) the time which leads to the maintenance of auditory and cognitive function. Choosing hearing aids or other technology to best suit your lifestyle and listening needs is the first part of the process. The next vital part of the process is making sure the sound is right and that you can maximise the use of your new hearing aids.

Reading about other peoples experience on the internet, while interesting to learn about, may not be reflective of your potential experience; as the person writing the reviews will have different hearing levels, reasons (causes) for their hearing loss and circumstances.

When getting hearing aids for the first time, most people go through a process of accepting and coming to terms with their hearing loss; Audiologists are trained to help in this process. New hearing aid wearers often need help to understand the many reasons for wearing their hearing aids as much as possible and the benefit they will receive from doing this. This process is different for each person.

Once you have decided to you are ready to hear better, we work with you to decide which hearing technology will best suit your needs. There are many brands of technology and within each brand there are many models and styles of hearing aids and other technology they can connect with.

At Auckland Hearing, we are an independent clinic. We are not owned by a hearing aid manufacturer or owned by a multinational company that dictates the technology that we need to fit for our clients. This gives us a unique opportunity to assess each brand and model of technology and choose the best solution for each person we see.

The technology/consumer side is where you are involved in the decisions: When choosing hearing aids we will ask you many questions about your priorities and specific areas where you would like to hear better. At this point, we will create specific goals for your hearing improvement and also clarify realistic expectations that we can achieve for your hearing levels.

The higher the technology level you choose the better the hearing aids will work in more complex listening situations. The technology level is linked to the cost of the hearing aids and your Audiologist will work with you to help you choose hearing aids that meet your listening needs at the budget you are comfortable with.

You will be involved in choosing the hearing aids features that you think will be most important for you:

Your Audiologist is your hearing partner, working at your side to help you choose a product that suits you best.  However – it is even more important that your Audiologist is skilled in Audiology. We need to make sure we have the right level of power in your hearing aids and the sound is adjusted to your specific ear resonances (using real ear measures). We need the to be sure the hearing aids are comfortable for you to wear all day every day and that you know how to get the best out of the technology you have chosen.

There are many areas of the hearing aid fitting process that may not be so obvious but are critical to your success with hearing aids. We accurately assess your hearing and help you understand the reason for your hearing loss. We will refer you on to a medical specialist when needed for further assessment of management and assess funding that may be available to help your hearing. We first lead you to the right products for your hearing levels and listening needs or help you to understand any limitations that may arise due to your hearing loss or the technology chosen.

Real-ear measures allow us to precisely fit your hearing aids to your individual ear acoustics and make sure there are no loud peaks or areas of under amplification which often occur if hearing aids are only fitted to the hearing test and not matched to your ears.

We help you practice putting the hearing aids in, which can strangely be one of the most challenging parts of getting new hearing aids (until putting the hearing aids in becomes second nature). We connect up your hearing aids to your smartphone or other connected technology so you can better manage the sound you are hearing.

We look after your hearing for the long term. All of your appoinments for at least six months, are are included as part of the fitting. This is to be sure we have really met your hearing needs.

Before your warranty expires, we send your aids off for a warranty repair to check they are working as they should be and can provide you with loan hearing aids, while your hearing aids are away. We help with long term hearing aid maintenance and get in contact every two years to retest your hearing and adjust your hearing aids. We keep up with any changes in your hearing and make sure your hearing aids continue to meet your hearing needs as precisely as possible.

When it comes to getting hearing aids, remember that choosing the hearing aid technology is important but even the best technology will not meet your hearing needs unless it is fitted correctly for you.