How to choose hearing aids?

At present, deafness is gradually becoming a common social problem. According to data released by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018, the proportion of the global population with hearing loss is about 15%. Among them, the proportion of people with moderate or above hearing loss is more than 5%, about 466 million people. The results of a sample survey of people with disabilities in my country show that the number of hearing and language disabilities ranks first among all kinds of disabilities. With the aging and urbanization of society, hearing impairments caused by aging, noise and the use of ototoxic drugs are increasing, so the whole society has gradually begun to pay attention to the work of hearing rehabilitation. In the process of hearing rehabilitation, wearing hearing aids is one of the most commonly used and effective methods. Hearing aids have been developed for a long time abroad, with a large number of professionals, and the use of hearing aids has been quite common. In my country, due to the late start of hearing rehabilitation work and the small number of professionals, the wearing rate of hearing aids is low.

Because there are still many people who lack understanding of hearing aids and even have misunderstandings, this article summarizes several common problems encountered in clinical hearing aid fitting and shares them with readers.

Who needs to wear hearing aids?

Hearing aids can help people with any type of hearing loss, primarily improving the wearer's ability to communicate verbally. Generally speaking, people with moderate hearing loss benefit best from hearing aids.

(Audiometry showed that the hearing loss on the right side was moderate and required hearing aid intervention)

Whether it is an infant or an adult, when hearing loss reaches moderate levels and cannot be improved by treatments such as medication and surgery, and is diagnosed as irreversible hearing loss, hearing aids should be considered.

What are the benefits of wearing hearing aids?

The purpose of wearing hearing aids is to improve the wearer's verbal communication ability to the greatest extent, so that they can communicate more with others and improve the wearer's quality of life. Children's speech development mainly relies on hearing. Infants and young children with hearing impairments should be discovered, diagnosed and intervened early to stimulate speech development and communicate with others without barriers so that they will not be out of touch with society in the future. Hearing loss in adults may bring certain difficulties to their study and employment, leading to a reduction in job opportunities. Wearing hearing aids is very important. For the elderly, hearing loss makes communication difficult, and they are easily interrupted when they can't hear clearly. Over time, they are prone to withdrawn personality and closed heart, which seriously affects their mental health. Wearing hearing aids can help them talk more and communicate more, and avoid the occurrence of mental illness.

How to choose a hearing aid?

Special attention should be paid to the ENT department of the hospital and professional hearing institutions for purchase and fitting. Except for hearing loss in one ear, as long as hearing loss in both ears occurs and there are no contraindications for fitting in both ears, fitting in both ears is recommended. The advantage of wearing both ears is that it improves the integration effects of the ear's own sound collection, noise reduction, positioning, balance, etc., and improves speech discrimination ability. Otherwise, the hearing on the side that does not wear a hearing aid will accelerate the deterioration of function due to long-term and less use.

When choosing a brand, you should choose international mainstream brands, which have relatively mature product technology and more complete after-sales service. Hearing aids of different prices have different functions and powers. Generally speaking, the price of a hearing aid also determines its sound processing ability, noise reduction ability, and wearing comfort.

When choosing a hearing aid, patients can combine the advice of the fitter and make a decision based on a series of factors such as their own degree of hearing loss, the complexity of their living environment, the strength of their adaptability, the requirements for the appearance and size, and the needs for various functions of the hearing aid. They do not necessarily have to choose the most expensive hearing aid, but rather the one that suits them.

Will hearing aids cause damage to the ears? Will wearing them make the hearing more severe?

Hearing aids fitted by professional fitting methods can amplify the sounds in the environment to the intensity that suits the wearer's needs according to the patient's different types of hearing loss and degree of deafness. Hearing aids can also control the maximum sound output intensity. For example, if there are sudden loud sounds in life, such as truck horns and firecrackers, hearing aids will instantly compress the loud sounds to ensure that the wearer will not suffer secondary hearing damage due to the loud sounds and protect the existing hearing.

In addition, do not buy hearing aids from online stores, pharmacies, or informal hearing aid stores. Wearing hearing aids that have not been professionally fitted will not only be ineffective and uncomfortable, but may even damage existing hearing, causing patients to be unwilling to wear them and miss the best time for intervention. After wearing hearing aids, you need to communicate frequently with professional fitters and adjust them if you feel uncomfortable, so that you can achieve the ideal fitting treatment effect.

In short, personalized hearing aid fitting should be carried out after a comprehensive examination and evaluation by a professional organization, and the amplification adjustment should be gradually adapted, which generally will not damage the original hearing.

What should I do if hearing aids don’t work?

For patients with severe or profound hearing loss in both ears, if wearing very high-power hearing aids is ineffective or has little effect, and they are diagnosed with cochlear deafness and have no contraindications to cochlear implantation, they can choose to undergo cochlear implantation surgery.

A cochlear implant is a high-tech artificial replacement organ designed for hearing rehabilitation of patients with severe, profound or complete deafness. It can replace damaged inner ear hair cells, convert external sounds into bioelectric signals to stimulate the auditory nerve and enable the wearer to perceive sounds. The sounds perceived through a cochlear implant are different from those of a hearing aid. After a cochlear implant is implanted, it is necessary to perform postoperative adjustments, as well as auditory and speech rehabilitation training and long-term persistence to achieve the best results. Therefore, before choosing a cochlear implant, you need to have good family support, a correct understanding of the cochlear implant and appropriate expectations, and develop a complete hearing and language rehabilitation plan to pave the way for postoperative rehabilitation.