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Which hearing aid should I choose? The decision is easy, because the hearing aid is not only a hearing aid, but also a device for its rehabilitation. An early and well-fitted hearing aid significantly improves the quality of life and prevents secondary disabilities. Find out which hearing aid to choose and the types of hearing aids.

A hearing aidis worn by only one in five Poles with a hearing loss, and at least a few years pass from the diagnosis to the purchase of a hearing prosthesis. Such disregard for the problem results, among others, from from the fact that hearing loss occurs slowly and the brain compensates for the loss to some extent. Unfortunately, the longer it takes to heal your hearing, the more difficult it becomes to restore proper hearing.

Deterioration of hearing causes distorted or weakened acoustic impulses to reach the brain. If this situation is prolonged, the memory traces in the brain that allow it to correctly read the meaning of what we hear are lost. We forget what the sounds of everyday life sound like, we start to have difficulties understanding speech - phonemic hearing, i.e. the ability to interpret sounds, disappears.

That's why it's so important to start using your hearing aid at the right moment. With its help you can correct most of the hearing impairments. It is important that the hearing prosthesis is used every day, because it not only strengthens sounds, but also rehabilitates the hearing organ, stimulating it to work: it stimulates the cells of the auditory organ and prevents sounds from becoming blurred in the memory, thus inhibiting the process of loss of hearing and hearing ability. understanding.

Hearing aid - fine tuning

The hearing aid should be adjusted individually to the type of hearing loss, taking into account the expectations and needs of the patient. It is especially important to find out when hearing loss is the biggest problem.

A well-tuned and configured by a hearing care professional allows you to hear as close to normal as possible, the sounds in the hearing aid do not seem too loud or too sharp. In every acoustic situation - at home, in the street noise, at a concert or in a cinema - the device amplifies and extracts from the background exactly those sounds whose reception causes problems, whileeliminates all disturbances - crackles, squeaks, noise.

If hearing loss occurs in both ears, you should wear two aids, otherwise the ear that is not supported by the hearing aid may lose some of its ability. This leads to serious problems with the later choice of the hearing aid for the previously neglected ear.

When is the hearing aid refundable?

The hearing aid is reimbursed for hearing loss above 30 dB for children and people up to 26 years of age. For the elderly, the loss must be at least 40 dB.

NFZ funding is granted once every 5 years for adults (the limit for one camera is PLN 1,000, of which the NFZ refunds PLN 700). For people up to 26 years of age, they are en titled to once every 3 years (the limit - PLN 2,000, fully refunded by the National He alth Fund).

In order to obtain funding, you should ask your family doctor to refer you to an ENT specialist, otolaryngologist, phoniatrist or audiologist, who will write an order for hearing aids (or two, if the patient meets the criteria for bilateral treatment).

The order with the test result should be delivered to your NHF branch.

Hearing aid - fitting process

Don't get discouraged if you are not comfortable hearing with your prosthesis. Its tuning sometimes requires several visits, during which the specialist, based on the user's comments, corrects its operation.

The fitting and getting used to it process may take longer, especially if someone has delayed putting on the braces. This is because the brain has to renew the traces of sound information transmission, remember how to focus on important sounds and separate them from the rest.

Sometimes aural training is recommended, consisting in performing hearing exercises with hearing aids in various acoustic situations (reading aloud in a quiet environment, listening to sounds, e.g. rustling paper, clanging keys).

Hearing aid - how to take care of it?

The hearing aid is operated in an environment that may interfere with its performance - the ear is moist and the earwax may block the ventilation and sound ducts, causing the sound to become distorted or make a popping noise. Therefore, you should wash the hearing aid once or twice a week with a designated detergent or water and washing-up liquid.

Wearers of BTEs should remember to disconnect the earbud from the rest of the device before washing or drying it. After washing and drying, and at night when not in use, the device must be stored in a special hygroscopic capsule (delivered with the device) that will absorb moisture. Protect the cameraagainst too high a temperature.

Types of hearing aids

Regardless of the design, all hearing aids are equipped with an electronic circuit that processes the acoustic signal: a microphone that picks up sounds from the surroundings, an amplifier and a loudspeaker that sends amplified acoustic signals to the ear.

  • Behind-the-ear appliancesare placed behind the auricle; are connected to the earmold by a discreet cable. These types of hearing aids are available in the form of open systems (the cord is attached to the ear canal with a small, almost invisible earpiece) and closed systems (the cord transmits the sound through an individually selected earpiece that closes the ear canal), giving higher sound amplification.
  • Earbuds (intrathecal)are placed inside the ear, i.e. in the ear canal. They can only be used with appropriately sized ear canals and only up to a certain level of hearing problems.
  • Bone conduction devicesare used when conventional air conduction devices cannot be used. Devices of this type (e.g. mounted in the frames of glasses) convert the acoustic wave into vibrations transmitted to the bones of the skull. They are used in people with congenital defects of the outer ear, e.g. complete or partial deformation of the auricle, underdeveloped or blocked ear canal, and in patients with middle ear defects who cannot undergo surgical treatment. They also work well in people with acquired diseases, accompanied by conductive hearing loss (the conduction of sounds in the middle or outer ear is disturbed) or mixed hearing (there are both problems with conducting sounds and their reception in the inner ear).
  • Sensorineural hearing loss
  • How do I restore HEARING? Hearing loss treatment
  • Hearing disorders - causes and types

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