Analog hearing aids phased out with the invention of digital electronics, after 1987. These digital hearing aids promised us the ability to tweak, adjust and program a "master circuit" to match an individual's hearing loss, right in the office! I can honestly say, it took another decade of research & development to get the bugs out, before I was convinced the new, digital hearing aids were better than the old, time-tested analog hearing aids.
After another 20 years of breakthrough technology, today's wireless digital hearing hearing aids are light years ahead and can be truly called, world-class technology. Most of the old school problems, such as, feedback whistling, distorted loud sounds, plugged sounding voice and echo issues are history, due to leading brand technologies. Fitting hearing aids today has never been more satisfying for me and my clients.
Buyer Beware!
Don't be fooled by advertising propaganda claiming all you have to do is plug them in your ears and go. Hearing aids are medical, prosthetic devices, which fit "inside your head" physically, electronically and acoustically . . . these are NOT Over-The-Counter (OTC) toys or trending gadgets. Each person's hearing needs are unique, requiring an experienced hearing aid specialist to modify and adjust things to get the maximum results you desire.
This is why I'm sharing my "H.I.S. story" with you, because I know you've been looking, reading and asking around. Fact is, there are a lot of hearing aid users who are wearing hearing aids, which have not been properly fit and/or programmed. This is why The Great American Hearing Aid Company™ is a revolutionary. We address the "root cause" of your communication challenges, by finely tuning and servicing your new or existing prescriptive hearing aids, as well as helping you rehabilitate your word recognition and listening skills.
The Great American Hearing Aid Company™, have both the expertise, and the cutting-edge technology. We understand how the old-world analog and new world digital hearing aids work and we excel at properly fitting, programming and servicing all makes, styles and brands.
By growing up in this industry, I've learned things "from the inside out". This is how we deliver and guarantee your best results possible, at never before seen factory-direct price breaks . . .
By joining the best pricing possible with today's automatic computer hearing aid technology, we can make some pretty amazing things possible!
You Don't Need Things Louder, You Need Things Clearer!
One of the biggest myths about hearing aids is that they just make things "louder". Truth is, hearing aids are a lot like eye glasses and as you know, there's a big difference between a magnifying glass, reading glasses and a real pair of prescription glasses.
"Hearing aids are not for people who can't hear, anymore than eye glasses are for the blind".
Simply put, most people suffer from not being able to detect or differentiate select groups of tones or frequencies. This is why most people we help need to hear speech more clearly, not just louder.
As it turns out, certain sounds or frequencies, are more important than others. In fact the most important sounds in speech, called consonants, have the highest pitch, beyond the highest range of the piano. An example of these most important high-range frequencies are the softer, sharper sounds we make with our lips and teeth.
Medical terminology calls these types of consonants "labio-dental" sounds, e.g., "sh", "th", "t", "p", "b", "d" and "sss" sounds.
Consonants are higher pitched, softer sounds; whereas vowels are lower pitched, louder sounds. Because there are more consonants than vowels, if you suffer from a loss of the higher range tones, then people may sound like they're mumbling.
Background noise is a common challenge people caused from losing your "higher-range of hearing". If you suffer from a high-range hearing loss you hear the vowel sounds better than the naturally softer consonants. Many people who have a high tone (high range) loss of hearing can hear some noises well; like the ticking of a grandfather clock, traffic and background noises.
"Scientifically speaking, these deeper, lower-bass range sounds are naturally perceived as louder to the human ear".
Bottom line, lower-frequency vowels bouncing off the walls, create the social background noise, which naturally overpower the weaker, high-frequency consonants. If you suffer from high-pitch (high range) hearing loss, social background noise will interfere with your ability to understand speech more than normal. If this sounds familiar, schedule yourself for a hearing evaluation in my office, it's a public service, which means it's free of charge, plus we do our best to make learning fun.
The good news is, a properly fit hearing aid can help you hear this high-range again. I've heard it said, "It's good to have one more option, than one less". In other words, when you hear everything, you have the freedom to listen to what is important and ignore what is not. The older we become, the more precious time is and the more rare each moment becomes. Why miss the soft voice of a loved one another day? Technology is your inheritance, take advantage of it!
Be blessed,
Todd "Earman" Faasse' NBC-HIS