Your primary care physician is typically your standard point of contact for everyday medical issues. Family physicians, however, literally by definition, are generalists. When you need to go beyond general help, you need a specialist. This means that visits to a dentist, an optician and a hearing health professional should also form part of your core healthcare routine.
Taking care of your ear health
Overall, taking care of your ear health is largely a matter of common sense. In particular, you should avoid putting anything inside your ears, keep them clean and protect them against excessive sound volumes. In principle, you should also monitor your ear functions. In practice, it’s extremely difficult for the average person to do this by themselves.
This is why going to a hearing health professional should form part of your core healthcare routine. A hearing health professional will monitor your hearing accurately. They will therefore be able to identify the early signs of issues such as hearing loss. They will also be able to guide you as to the next steps.
Your regular hearing health professional may also be a hearing instrument specialist. In fact, this is highly likely. Even if they’re not, they can probably refer you to a HIS in your area. A hearing instrument specialist can guide you through the process of finding the right hearing aid for your needs, wants, lifestyle and budget.
The basics of hearing aids
Modern hearing aids do a lot more than just amplify sounds. They amplify the necessary sounds correctly. This encourages your brain to continue processing sounds as much as it can. At the same time, it gives your hearing the assistance it needs. Depending on the extent of your hearing loss, this can be anything from a gentle boost to major support.
While all hearing aids perform the same basic function, they now come in various packages and with advanced functionality & features. This means that it is much easier for anyone experiencing hearing loss to find an appropriate solution. It’s even easier if you have the guidance of a hearing instrument specialist.
Once you’ve chosen the solution that works for you, your hearing instrument specialist will help you to get the most out of it. They’ll customize it to your ears and guide you through fitting it, taking it out and using any controls.
The importance of customizing a hearing aid
Programmed hearing aids deliver a better experience than basic hearing amplifiers because they can be precisely customized to you. Your hearing instrument specialist will take care of this customization. There is a high likelihood that your hearing aid will be calibrated over two sessions.
The first session will be when you first get your new hearing aid. You will then get a chance to experience its benefits in the real world. As you do, you’ll find yourself getting accustomed to it. Once you’ve become familiar with your hearing aid, your HIS will probably invite you back for another appointment.
This second appointment will be partly to check up on how you’re getting along with your hearing aid. It will also be partly to allow your hearing instrument specialist to make any fine adjustments to your hearing aid.
