FAQ'S

If you feel you are missing out on sounds which people around you are not or if you feel you cannot identify certain words within a conversation you may be suffering from a hearing loss and may need to consult your audiologist.

The inability of an individual to hear sounds up to an upper limit of 25db (Indian standards) in all frequencies is termed as a hearing loss.

The treatments of Hearing Loss depend on the kind of loss the patient has. Depending upon the type of hearing loss, Medicinal, Surgical or Hearing Aid fitting treatments may be recommended.

In cases where medicines or surgery is ruled out, hearing aids are the only treatments available.

There are two types of Hearing aids- the digital as well as the analog hearing aids. To understand the difference between both please visit the link: Analog Vs Digital Hearing Aids

The Style of a hearing aid suitable would be basis the hearing loss and the covering capacity of the hearing aids device. Please consult your audiologist for the best suitable styles for yourself.

Any hearing aid device you wear needs to be properly cleaned from time to time; it needs to be protected from water at all times; You need to handle the battery properly, take it out when not in use to prevent discharge and for in the canal hearing aids one also needs to change the wax guard whenever required. These are basic care and maintenance which one needs to follow for all hearing devices.

If you have a bilateral hearing loss then the answer is a compulsory Yes! For unilateral or single sided hearing loss an individual is advised to wear hearing aid on the affected side.

Every hearing aid centre should be well equipped to give a trial of the device before the actual fitting. The trial can also accompany creation of virtual environments for the individual where he/she can be made to experience the hearing aids in a real like environment and feel the difference. At HNR Speech and Hearing Clinic, we ensure a free complete trial of all hearing aid devices.

The life of the hearing aid depends on the care and maintenance one does. However in general all digital hearings aids may work well over 8-10 years.

The hearing aid battery life depends on the battery size. A typical Completely in Canal hearing aid (Link to the CIC page) battery may go up to 6-8 days and a Behind the Ear Hearing Aid may go up t0 12-15 days.

If you are using a digital hearing aid then there may not be any damage but for analog hearing aids there is certainly a chance of further damage.

None of the hearing aids should be tried in water. There are certain companies which have brought out water resistant BTE Models; however it is still advisable not to use them in water as there may be a battery discharge

This may not be true in terms of sound processing abilities if the device, however behind the ear models are much popular since they can be made more powerful (due to the bigger receiver size which can be accommodated in the devices) and these also have a longer battery life.

There is no correct age of wearing a hearing aid. If you have a hearing loss, you must use a hearing aid.

The answer is No. However with the use of the hearing aid device a child may get necessary stimulation of sounds which is required for his/her speech training. If your child has such a problem you must visit a speech therapist. Contact us for more details.

A constant ringing noise or perception of it in the ear where there is absence of any external noise is termed as tinnitus.

In 80% of Patients with tinnitus also have hearing problems, usage of hearing aid helps to mask the tinnitus to certain extend.

Tinnitus does not have any sure sort solution; however there are tinnitus rehabilitation therapies which are conducted for patients. There are some medicines also which doctor prescribes for some patients.

Yes you can use a hearing aid irrespective of an ear discharge; however you can only use behind the ear hearing aid models wherein there is no direct connection of the receiver in the ear.

Wearing a good quality digital hearing aid can help stabilize the hearing loss to some extent.

Absolutely! You must use a hearing aid if you have a loss and prevent any further damage. We always process sounds binaurally and hence if one side is affected then due to excessive stress on the other side there are chances that even the better ear can acquire a hearing loss. Moreover, since there is less stimulation in the affected ear, it will only worsen with time. Therefore for people with unilateral hearing loss it is strongly recommended to go for a hearing aid.

As per a survey, 1 in 10 people in our country suffer from a hearing loss. However there is ignorance within the community and people visit a doctor only when matters have become a lot worse.

Yes, you will definitely be benefited by using suitable hearing aids.

You can use ear bud to clear the outer surface of ear i.e. pinna, inserting bud further in canal can push wax deeper inside, this can cause damage to your tympanic membrane.

Excessive use of ear phones can damage your hearing thresholds permanently. It is recommended that one should not use headphones for more than 20 minutes at a stretch.