Hearing Aids & Battery Club

Digital hearing instruments represent the most advanced technology available today and allow the most precise prescriptive fitting.  These instruments contain a tiny custom programmed chip and offer the best way to match a particular patient’s hearing loss with the precise amplification needed. Their unique technology separates the incoming sound into discreet bands or channels, each of which can be processed independently. Complete flexibility and amazing fine-tuning capability are among the many benefits.

The quickness and ease of fitting, patient comfort, no “stopped up” feeling while wearing them and the discreet size makes the open-fit style almost invisible when worn.  This category of hearing aid has been widely available for years and has become our biggest selling style. Originally designed to fit only high frequency hearing loss, open-fit styles are now even smaller and can fit a wide range of hearing difficulty.

• Directional microphones. These improve speech understanding in noisy environments by using two microphones to better separate unwanted sounds behind the wearer from the important speech sounds in front of the wearer.
• Multiple compression channels. This is the “automatic volume control” which reacts quickly enough to increase the volume for crucial speech sounds, lower it for louder ambient noises and protect the wearer from sudden loud sounds like slamming doors.
• Multiple programs. Also called “memories,” these let the wearer change the manner in which the hearing aid processes sound when moving from one environment to another, providing more control over various listening situations.
• Noise reduction. his makes listening to speech more comfortable in difficult or noisy situations, as well as reducing wind noise when outside. Noise reduction is available in different levels of technology and can vary in its effectiveness.  Therefore, it is important to understand that having noise reduction in hearing aids does not mean background noise is eliminated.
• Feedback cancellation. Annoying whistling or squealing are virtually eliminated with this digital feature, allowing for greater clarity of important speech.

In the past few years, we have seen tremendous advances in hearing aid features.  This has led to consumer satisfaction rates reaching an all-time high. Most consumers want technology to help them hear better when background noise is present and to minimize feedback.

For years we have known that aging and noise exposure take their toll on our ability to hear. This is true whether or not we use hearing aids.  However, research shows that the ability to make sense of what we hear deteriorates more rapidly if the hearing pathway is not stimulated. Therefore, a decision to delay being fit with hearing aids will not cause hearing to become worse, but it may make it more difficult to adapt and benefit from hearing aids later on.  This is a very good reason for not waiting until hearing aids are absolutely needed. Unfortunately, we see too many people make the mistake of waiting to buy hearing aids because they feel their hearing “isn’t bad enough.”

There are more than 20 different hearing aid manufacturers, but only a few companies research and design the digital circuits on the market.  At Southern Head & Neck Surgery, we commonly dispense Phonak, Starkey and Signia hearing aids.  Starkey is an American company which is a world leader in research and development of hearing innovation.  Starkey was the first company to offer breakthroughs such as feedback suppression, nanotechnology, and touch technology. Starkey was the first to create an in-canal hearing aid and the first to offer custom digital hearing aids. Starkey offers the best warranty and will extend out to five years.  Signia is a brand of Sivantos, also an excellent company and one of the world’s largest hearing aid manufacturers. Phonak, a Swiss company, is similarly renowned for the quality of their hearing aids.

In many cases, insurance will pay for hearing aids. Payment is expected at the time services are rendered.  Co-pays, deductibles, and balances are due at check-in.  As a courtesy we will file your insurance claim, but the responsibility of insurance verification for office visits, procedures, and surgeries lies with the patient. As a courtesy we will make every effort to provide you with a good faith estimate of your portion.