| As an up-to-date business, we
want to give you the opportunity to stay in touch
with our company and our offers. We supply both
digital and analogue hearing aids.
We offer a repair service for any make of aid
for callers at our centre and nationally, by post.
We also supply hearing aid batteries and useful
accessories by post.
The process of getting the RIGHT hearing aid
Abiliti hearing's Hearing Aid Audiologists spend
a lot of time with hearing aid users, testing
their listening skills, fitting them with instruments
and monitoring their progress.
Below, Bruce Crabbe, Abiliti hearing's most experienced
Hearing Aid Audiologist, explains what people
can expect when they decide to have their hearing
tested.
"The first thing
we do is to check the person's hearing to determine
the nature of their hearing loss," says Bruce
Crabbe.
"We start to develop a case history, finding
out about the person's hearing abilities and looking
for any medically referable conditions. We examine
their ears, which is called otoscopy, checking
the light reflex at the eardrum and looking for
excessive earwax or any abnormalities.
The Rinne and Webber tuning fork tests are used
to establish if the middle ear and the inner ear
are working properly. When we've done this, it’s
time to do a proper hearing test. It doesn't take
long, and when it's over, we get a print-out of
the person's hearing profile - a so-called audiogram
- showing what they can and cannot hear."
Bruce has a list of steps that he always follows
when performing a standard hearing test. The list
seems simpler and less scary than you may think.
”First, I ask patients to listen to a series
of simple tones, which I play to them either through
head-phones or through tiny soft inserts in each
ear," says Bruce.
"We start off with low-frequency tones and
progress up to high-pitched tones. Most everyday
environmental sounds and speech are situated in
this range of frequencies. When the person hears
the tone, they let me know, either by raising
a hand or pressing a response button.
"Then I begin to decrease the volume of
the sounds, to determine where it starts to become
difficult for the person to hear. We call this
the hearing threshold. These levels are recorded
on the audiogram"
Next I ask the patient to repeat the above steps
using a small headband.
According to Bruce the next step is to evaluate
how well the person understands speech. "We
often ask people to listen to and repeat a series
of two-syllable words, like 'ice cream', which
we play more and more softly. This helps us to
determine their threshold for recognizing speech.
We do the same with monosyllabic words, like 'dog'.
We then calculate a percentage of 'word discrimination'
for each ear.
If we need to, we can do other tests to evaluate
how well people understand speech in difficult
or noisy situations.
At the end of the test procedure it is time to
determine whether hearing aids are a good idea,
and which type would be best "At this stage
we take an impression of the person's ear,"
Bruce explains. "If we choose a BTE (Behind-The-Ear)
hearing aid, we begin by making an impression
of the ear canal, for the ear mould section of
the instrument. It's a completely painless procedure
in which we use a soft, putty-like material. If
we decide to go with ITE(In-The-Ear) instruments,
the ear impression is used for the hearing aid
itself.
The choice of style depends on the hearing loss,
the shape of the ear canal and people's personal
preferences, of course!"" The making
of hearing aids requires meticulous craftsmanship.
The ear impression is sent to a special laboratory
where highly-skilled staff take it through a range
of complicated processes. When the hearing aids
are ready, which takes between 1-3weeks, it's
time for the next appointment.
For Bruce this is where the fun really starts.
He enjoys the fitting process - the discussions
and the adjustments that lead to the ideal setting
for that particular individual.
"When we program hearing aids, we use a
computer to provide the right volume and tonal
quality," says Bruce. "We also give
people a thorough demonstration on how to insert,
use, and look after their new instruments. And
before they leave, we review their listening needs
and their expectations.
Because the more they know what to expect, the
more likely it is that they'll stay with the programme
and succeed."
Follow-up
Follow-up appointments are normally scheduled
for a few weeks later in order to keep track of
progress. "Getting used to new hearing aids
is a process that requires both time and patience,"
explains Bruce. "We like to start gently,
and we can always adjust the settings as people
become used to hearing more sounds.
In follow-up appointments we try to address their
personal requirements. We talk about their experiences,
set a few goals and evaluate their overall satisfaction.
It's crucial to keep the expectations realistic:
hearing aids cannot completely restore your hearing
- but they can make an amazing improvement to
your quality of life!"
| Langley
Park,
Co Durham
51 Front Street
Langley Park
Durham
DH7 9XB
Bishop Auckland, Co Durham
Thornley Lane
Thornley,
Tow Law
DL13 4NS
Opening Hours:
10.00am - 2.00pm
Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat
Tel: 0845 466 0145 |
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