How Hearing Aids Help Those with Severe Hearing Loss

If you or someone you know is experiencing hearing loss, then you may be wondering how much more challenging it can get? Hearing loss has levels, as some loss is mild, others moderate and some severe. If you have severe hearing loss, then it can seem very disorientating when you begin to try and adjust to the world you’re now living in. But yes, even profoundly deaf people can hear with the help of hearing aids. Speak with an audiologist about your options and here is what they might inform you with.

How Do Hearing Aids Work?

What they do is increase the volume of sound that they capture. They mimic the eardrum and other sensitive bones in the ear that pick-up soundwaves and vibrate. They have been specifically designed for certain kinds of hearing loss.

For some people, they may have partial hearing loss due to one bone or structure that is not properly working. So, they only need a hearing aid that picks up the slack in this regard. So, an in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid might be the best solution. For someone with greater hearing loss, they require a larger and more complex hearing aid that can pick up sounds from most angles. 

Hearing Loss Is Profoundly Deaf People

When you have profound hearing loss, this is when the major structures in your ear that should pick up sound are exhausted, damaged or deformed. This could have been caused by a loudspeaker in which case it could be temporary. If however it's linked to age, genetics or an acute injury, then you may find that a unique hearing aid is the only proper practical solution. 

Hearing aids are not corrective solutions. They do not give you back your hearing, rather they work with what you have got to the best of their ability. So, they can only focus on and target the areas of your ear that do still pick up soundwaves and vibrate to transmit signals to your brain of the sounds around you.

The Style of Hearing Aid You Might Get

For someone who has profound hearing loss, they need all the assistance they can get from their hearing aid. So, you may find that the types that are recommended to you are the advanced class, which are larger and fit over the ear. They can be made in the tone of your skin if you would like, to help make them more discreet. Rather than being purely wireless, you might find that they are hooked up to a battery with a wire. This allows for more room inside the hearing aid and thus, more technology to help you hear better. 

They may also be featured on the hearing aid, allowing you to adjust various things about the volume, pitch, tone and or frequency of the sound. This is because some people find that they want to turn down their hearing aids in loud places like a bar or a sporting event. Other times they may want to increase the sound such as when they are home alone or at night. it's best to talk about this with your audiologist as you are selecting your hearing aids because we can then go over specific shape, size, aesthetic and features with you face to face.

Behind-the-ear hearing aids are commonly recommended for individuals with profound hearing loss levels. These devices are larger; making them more powerful and easily equipped with numerous features. Worn with a small casing that rests behind the ear, a thin tube or wire connects this piece to a microphone that sits in the opening of the canal. Many people like BTE hearing aids because they come in a wide array of colors and sizes. They are also thought to be incredibly comfortable because they give you an open-fit feeling since only the receiver or microphone sit near the canal. 

Your audiologist will work with you to find the best solution for your specific level of loss and needs. If you have any further questions about the kinds of hearing aids that we offer and how you or someone you know who is profoundly deaf can be aided with their hearing, speak with us today. We’d love to start a conversation with you and talk about your specific requirements for a first or new hearing aid. Learn more about EarTech Audiology and call us today at (866) 464-1008.