Hearing Aids and More

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Hearing aids are complex amplifiers (almost all of them digital signal processors) that boost the amplitude of soundwaves at those frequencies where your audiogram shows you have suffered hearing loss, while allowing you to hear the other frequencies normally. In this respect hearing aids are customized specifically to your individual audiologic profile. Many hearing aids are now calibrated to dampen ambient noise -- all the background clatter that otherwise interferes with your ability to hear. Thus, hearing aids assist you both through amplification of sounds you want to hear and damping of noise you don't want to hear. If you are fitted with binaural aids (one receiver in each ear), you will also be better able to determine the direction and distance of sound sources, just as binocular vision enables you to judge distances better than monocular vision does. This not only aids your hearing, but also has safety value in situations such as driving in heavy traffic. There are five main types of hearing aids these days, and the advent of microtechnology has made them much smaller yet more reliable than ever before.

(1) Behind-the-Ear (BTE) hearing aids are tucked behind the outer ear (pinna) and almost invisibly connected to an earmold placed in your ear canal. This earmold is custom-made to replicate exactly the shape of your ear canal where it is located. BTE's offer the most power and usually the most options of all the units.

(2) In-the-Ear (ITE) hearing aids are placed in the outer ear and partly in the ear canal. They are comfortable, relatively inexpensive and easy to operate, although they are larger than other types of units and offer fewer operating options.

(3) In-the-Canal (ITC) hearing aids are smaller than ITE's but are more expensive and require some dexterity in manipulating the volume wheel.

(4) Completely in-the-Canal (CIC) units are the smallest hearing aids made and are inserted deep into the ear canal. They have a small, thin string attached to them to enable removal. Because they are so small and inaccessible, they have no manual controls.

(5) Open ear products are an improvement over some of the other units, because they are lightweight, easily inserted and removed, and nearly invisible. They are similar to BTE's but have no earmold. Instead, the signal processor behind the ear transmits sound by means of a transparent tube directly into the ear. Other sounds enter or leave the ear naturally. These units eliminate feedback and distortion, two problems sometimes encountered with the other types of hearing aids. However, they do not currently generate the power to help persons with extensive hearing loss. Rarely, for some patients with profound hearing loss that cannot be helped with hearing aids, a cochlear implant surgically inserted deep within the inner ear can be utilized, but these units are beyond the scope of this discussion.
All five types of hearing aids use digital technology, although for profound hearing loss, some aids still employ analog features. The type of hearing aid you may be fitted for will depend upon the nature and degree of your hearing loss, but in any case it will be virtually unnoticeable.

Fitting and Servicing
Advanced Hearing Solutions, Inc. is an independent clinic that evaluates the nature and extent of your hearing loss (if any), and recommends the proper treatment options for your particular problem. For conductive hearing losses, we can refer you to an otologist in your area. For hearing problems that can be helped by hearing aids, we can fit you with any of the five types of units described above, and we can work with any of a number of hearing aid manufacturers -- among them Oticon, Phonak, ReSound, Rexton, Siemens, Sonic Innovations, Starkey, Unitron and Widex. While we cannot fit you with Beltone or Miracle Ear units, because these manufacturers have their own dispensing specialists, we can service those units that are in need of cleaning or repair.

Assistive Listening Devices
In special situations, such as watching television or talking on the telephone, devices other than hearing aids may prove very useful.

TV Ears. This is a wireless hearing system that provides excellent sound quality on any television set. Its features include (1) television audio processing (TAP), which amplifies regular dialogue, hard-to-hear voices and whispers; and (2) automatic volume control (AVC), which selectively compresses the loud bursts of volume that occur when commercials come on or when you are switching channels. Left/right balance controls, as well as volume and tone controls, enable you to adjust the sound to your preferences. This system includes a charger and headsets that will function for up to ten hours before recharging.
FTRI Phone Program. In Florida, the Florida Telecommunications Relay, Inc., a nonprofit organization, provides special telephones for permanent Florida residents who are certified by a State-approved certifier such as Dr. Crosby to have a permanent hearing impairment requiring an amplification device. These FTRI telephones are loaned on a long-term basis at no charge. The units include phones that amplify incoming sound, devices that alert you when the phone rings, captioned telephones and telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDD/TTY ).
FM Systems/Blue Tooth. These devices are for those patients who have severe hearing loss that is not helped sufficiently by hearing aids alone. The FM system includes an external microphone or streamer, and an FM receiver. It can be used for communication in a very noisy environment, or for listening to a specific speaker whom you cannot hear very well. The Blue Tooth adaptor may be beneficial if you have difficulty hearing when you use your cell phone.

Beyond Hearing Aids
Several interesting programs have been developed by researchers recently, which show promise of helping seniors to listen and communicate better, discriminate speech sounds better, speed up thought processing and improve auditory memory. Advanced Hearing Solutions, Inc. is at the forefront in offering these programs to patients who are motivated to improve that part of their hearing process that is mediated by the brain.
Listening and Communication Enhancement (LACE). This is an interactive, computerized aural rehabilitation program that has already helped thousands of people who have some degree of hearing loss increase their listening skills by as much as 40 percent. Just as physical therapy can help you rebuild your muscle strength and compensate for physical disability or weakness, so too LACE enables you to develop listening skills and strategies that can compensate for your hearing inadequacies. We transmit sound in our ears. We hear and listen in our brains. Hearing aids help with the sound transmission, LACE training with the listening.
The Brain Fitness Program. Much of the important information you take in each day-and that you'll want to respond to, remember and use later-comes in through sound waves that enter your ears. The Brain Fitness program, developed by Posit Science, improves the quality and quantity of information your brain processes after it has been received from the auditory nerve, and the speed with which it does that processing. To try out the Brain Fitness program, go online to www.positscience.com and take the free test. Other brain training programs are also available from such sites as www.brainready.com and may be downloaded for a modest price.
Save Your Hearing Now. This program, developed by ear-nose-throat specialist Michael Seidman, MD after many years of research, combines nutritional supplements, hearing protection and exercise in a holistic approach to preventing, and in some cases reversing, part of the damage of hearing loss. For more information, contact Dr. Noel Crosby directly (see Contact Us).