New Technology Makes Hearing Aids a Hot Accessory
(ARA) – When you think of a hearing aid, the image of a large piece of plastic sitting behind an ear likely comes to mind. There has been a stigma attached to hearing instruments because for many years they were big, bulky and looked “old.” Today’s hearing aids are sleek, sophisticated pieces of technology, and most are nearly invisible when worn.
At its most basic, a hearing aid amplifies sound that enters the instrument through a microphone and then delivers that sound via a speaker into the ear. Early hearing aids fell far short of the natural ear’s ability to tune out background noise so that the listener can focus on particular sounds such as speech. Historically, some of the most common complaints hearing aid users have include not being able to hear in noisy situations; whistling (referred to as feedback) when the wearer put on a hat or hugged a loved one; occlusion – the feeling of the ears being plugged; and poor performance when the wearer was talking on the phone.
Today’s top-line hearing aids use the most advanced technology available to address all of the complaints of hearing aid wearers. These hearing instruments are like small computers that use complex algorithms to constantly identify and separate incoming sounds.
For example, when the hearing aid picks up ambient noise, it will turn off a microphone collecting the background sounds and turn on a microphone to focus the hearing aid on speech. These hearing instruments are designed to provide the closest thing to normal hearing possible, and they succeed in that task better than ever before.
Hearing aids also incorporate a number of other interesting features now that never would have been possible before. For example, Minnesota-based Starkey recently introduced T2 technology in its S Series instruments, which allows wearers to use a cell or touch-tone phone to conveniently switch modes or adjust volume without using additional hardware. Hearing aid wearers can choose from a wide variety of voice options for their indicators –like when the battery is low — including a number of languages and even golf legend Arnold Palmer’s voice.
In addition, hearing aids can now be fit more precisely with a prescriptive approach, which uses hearing and lifestyle assessments, to help ensure that the instruments match the individual’s hearing loss, lifestyle needs and ear shape.
Finding the right solution for a hearing loss can make all of the difference in communication with family, friends and co-workers. To find out more about the latest in hearing aid technology, visit www.starkey.com.
