Is a hearing aid right for you? Well, in this video I’m talking about the top 10
features of today’s best hearing aids.
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Hi, I’m Dr. Derek - audiologist, audio engineer, and musician with Pro Fit Hearing.com bringing
you the best insight into today’s latest hearing aids, headphones, and audio technology
to improve your life. If you have concerns about your hearing, always consult with your
local physician or audiologist. Please like, subscribe, and hit the bell icon for notifications
if you enjoy this video.
Today, I’m talking about the top 10 features of today's best hearing aids.
When someone says hearing aids, what do you think of? A big, bulky piece of plastic
behind the ear that doesn't stop whistling? Well maybe that’s what you had seen your
parents or grandparents but today hearing aids are high tech, miniaturized computers
that transform the lives of people who wear them.
Today’s hearing aids are precisely tuned to your degree of hearing loss. The technology
has advanced drastically. We've gone from a very basic hearing aid that was adjusted
with just a tiny screwdriver to today's high tech smart hearing aids that have features
like Artificial Intelligence (AI), activity sensors, wireless connectivity, and smartphone
integration. These technological changes have really transformed what a hearing aid is and
are revolutionizing the hearing healthcare industry. There's really never been a
better time to try hearing aids.
Feature #1: Digital hearing aids
Hearing aids today are digital. This means they have a computer chip that transforms
all sound into data points of 1s and 0s. This is the language that computers understand.
The digital coding of sound allows for a very accurate adjustment of the hearing aid
to accommodate the user's hearing loss.
The hearing aid is digitally programmed
to provide more volume
for the exact sounds that the person can not hear.
This custom tuning is based upon all of
the results from the audiogram (or hearing test).
Feature #2: Fast processing
The computer chip in your hearing aid makes nearly instantaneous decisions on how to change
sound in a way that sounds the best to your ears. Hearing aids constantly listen to
all sounds around you and decide how to automatically filter out noise and maximize speech understanding
and clarity. Older hearing aids required a manual adjustment by the user to filter
out background noises, but now all of this happens behind the scenes. Hearing aids today
have multiple settings that automatically switch on or off depending on the sounds in
your environment. This will alllow you to maximize your ability to understand speech.
Feature #3: Noise canceling hearing aids
A hearing aid automatically reduces some of the background noise in your environment in
two ways. First, multiple microphones in the hearing aid work together to focus on
the sounds that are in the front of the person while reducing sensitivity to sounds from
the side and back. Also, low frequency or bass sounds are reduced to remove additional
noise so that important speech sounds can be emphasized. Some hearing aids today automatically
determine where speech is coming from and then redirect the microphone sensitivity toward
the speaker no matter if they're beside or behind you.
Feature #4: Compact size
Hearing aids today provide more features in a more compact and discreet casing than ever
before. One of the most popular styles is a miniature behind-the-ear (or BTE) hearing
aid style. This rests behind your ear and under your hair. A small tube or wire is inserted
into the ear to deliver sound.
Another option is a small hearing aid that is custom molded to fit inside the ear. Some
of the smallest hearing aids are the completely-in-canal (CIC) and the invisible-in-canal (IIC) hearing
aid. These two smallest hearing aids are more limited in how the user can adjust them and
they're more likely to need extra care and attention to cleaning, but their tiny size
makes them popular for those who are concerned with appearance and it might be an appropriate
solution for you.
Feature #5: Improved sound quality for music
Hearing aids can have a setting especially for music that engages automatically or is
manually activated by the user. These settings allow for a more natural, less processed sound
quality. Music sounds better with today's hearing aids due to an extended dynamic range,
an extended frequency response, and surround sound microphone settings. Historically
hearing aids have been focused on speech frequency sounds to maximize speech understanding.
Hearing aid users can now enjoy music while better understanding the conversations
around them.
So, now when someone says hearing aid you should think about incredible accuracy,
speed, automatic features, a discrete size, and superior sound quality.
These top features
of today’s best hearing aids have really revolutionized the hearing aid industry, and
they can definitely change your life
for the better.
Make sure to watch part two of this video series where I’ll discuss five more top
features of today’s best hearing aids. I’ll leave a link in the suggested videos
above for part 2 as soon as it’s available.
So for today’s question. What hearing aid features excite you the most, and has your
perception of hearing aids changed after watching this video? I'd love to know your thoughts,
so please comment below.
Thanks so much for watching this video. If you received value from this video, please
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If you're interested in hearing aids, click on the link in description below for my FREE
ebook, “How To Buy Hearing Aids”. Know what to ask your audiologist or hearing aid
dispenser so that your hearing aids are easy to use and have all the features you’re
looking for.
Remember, Pro Fit Hearing brings you the best insight into today’s latest hearing aids,
headphones, and audio technology to improve your life.
If you have concerns about your hearing, always
consult with your local physician or audiologist. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you in
the next video.