While hearing aids are a major help for those with hearing challenges, for some, even this advanced technology isn’t quite enough to provide strong, healthy hearing.
Still struggling to hear conversations, not following along in background noise, or feeling stressed when you can’t hear well even in quiet settings? Rest assured that you’re not alone, and with some helpful adjustments in your busy life, you can make a significant difference.
Here are some helpful options to explore:
1) Make sure your hearing aids are working and programmed properly
Just like how glasses with the wrong prescription will cause headaches, even the best hearing aids won’t work correctly if they aren’t programmed properly.
Your hearing aid settings are customized based on your latest hearing evaluation, your lifestyle, and your unique hearing needs. To ensure a snug fit, precise measurements of your ears are taken to account for individual differences in ear shapes and sizes.
Hearing aids also require routine maintenance and cleaning to ensure they are working properly. A 19-point inspection every six months is recommended to verify that your hearing aid electronics are functioning properly.
Routine hearing aid cleanings with our expert team can ensure that any malfunctions aren’t due to wax clogging important mechanisms or sweat and debris damaging your devices.
To schedule a professional hearing aid cleaning or a 19-point hearing aid inspection, call your nearest office!
2) Try new communication strategies
Even with the best hearing aids and optimized programming, conversations can still be challenging in difficult environments, such as those with background noise.
Try some simple adjustments in conversations to ensure that you’re understanding to the best of your ability:
- Face the speaker: Seeing facial expressions and lip movements makes it easier to understand.
- Ask people to speak clearly (not louder): A slower pace and clear speech help more than volume.
- Reduce background noise: Turn off the TV or running water or move to a quieter spot during conversations.
- Repeat or rephrase: It’s okay to ask someone to say it differently if you didn’t catch it the first time. Try to repeat any part of the sentence that you did hear. For example, “I heard you say something about dinner; what did I miss?”
- Use assistive devices: TV streamers, remote microphones, and phone apps can improve sound quality.
3) Consider a cochlear implant
If hearing aids are no longer giving you enough benefit, it may be time to look into cochlear implants, which are small electrodes surgically placed in the inner ear.
Cochlear implants work slightly differently from hearing aids. Instead of making sounds louder, like a hearing aid, a cochlear implant sends sound signals directly to the hearing nerve, which makes speech clearer by bypassing the damage in your ear.
A cochlear implant may be right for you if:
- You have severe to profound hearing loss
- You struggle to understand speech, even with hearing aids
- You’re open to surgery and the rehabilitation process that follows
If you’re curious about cochlear implants, feel free to get in touch with our team. We work with leading cochlear implant providers to ensure that you’re hearing the life you love, no matter what your ears need.
4) Use captioning services
Captions are a fast, straightforward way to improve understanding, especially in group settings or during phone and video calls. They are a great tool for anyone with hearing loss, even if you already use hearing aids or have a cochlear implant.
Captioning options include:
- Live captioning on smartphones, available in iPhone or Android accessibility settings or in separate apps like Otter or Ava
- Captioned phones for clearer phone calls, available at no charge through a federal program
- TV captions or streaming services with subtitles
- Video conferencing tools (Zoom, Teams, etc.) with built-in captioning
- Captioning glasses such as Captify, which are eyeglasses with built-in real-time subtitles
Call our office and ask for our captioning expert, Jessie, to learn more about captioning options!
Helping You Hear the Life You Love
Advanced hearing aid technology can make a world of difference, but if you’re struggling with your hearing aids, don’t lose hope.
Our expert team can help adjust your hearing aids, provide other solutions, or give advice to help your hearing improve. Rest assured that you will see noticeable changes and relief from challenges!
Request a callback to get in touch with our team, or give us a call at your closest clinic in:
Menlo Park: (650) 854-1980
Los Altos: (650) 941-0664
