When readers last dropped in, they found a great discussion about hearing aids. At out Orlando ENT Hearing Center, patients receive the gift of hearing. Today, we are sharing how you can hear as well as you can with the help of hearing aids.
Hearing aids:
Just about anyone with hearing loss is a candidate for hearing aids regardless of age or gender. In some cases, you may have trouble hearing out of one ear and assume you only need one hearing aid, but we will get into that later. In our last article series on cochlear implants, we shared information on more invasive hearing aids that are actually implanted.
However, not everyone needs this invasive option. Cochlear implants are for patients that do not receive enough aid with the more common styles of hearing aids that are not implanted into the body. Hearing aids are sufficient, if not incredible, for most people with hearing loss.
Check out our last blog where we shared the perks of getting hearing aids from our Orlando hearing center. Now that you are all caught up, let’s get into ways you can correctly care for hearing aids.
How to care for hearing aids:
Just like any other electronic or mechanical equipment, maintenance is vital to the longevity of the device. With careful handling and care, hearing aids can years. After all, hearing aids are an investment in your quality of life, and they should be treated as such.
The follow are ways you can take care of hearing aids as recommended by ENT specialists:
- clean hearing aids every day
- use provided brush and lint free cloth to clean hearing aids
- keep hearing aids dry
- change batteries regularly
- change the earwax filter regularly
The following are a few don’ts for taking care of hearing aids:
- do not leave hearing aids in humid places
- do not wear hearing aids when you may get wet- such as showering, swimming, and if you are outside when it is raining
- do not use any hand towel to clean the hearing aids
- do not use any cleaning products on hearing aids not approved by our doctors
- do not handle hearing aids with dirty hands
- do not leave batteries in hearing aids past expiration
Wearing two hearing aids:
Often times, wearing two hearing aids is best for optimal hearing. When using two hearing aids, a person is able to hear from both ears louder than you would if you only heard from one ear. This is called binaural loudness summation which means you could turn the volume down and still hear clearly because both ears are working together.
Binaural deprivation means the ear that is not wearing a hearing aid might actually lose more hearing ability to understand speech and sounds because it is not being used as much. This is similar to wearing an eye patch on one eye that does not work well. You cannot only rely on seeing with the good eye, the eye under the patch will only experience lesser and lesser quality of eyesight.
Localization is the ability to tell where sound is coming from. It’s greatly increased when both ears are wearing hearing aids. If you have questions about anything discussed today, contact our experienced ENT specialists at Orlando ENT Hearing Center for in-depth explanations and answers.
Staff Writer
