Do you Really Need a Hearing Aid?

Do you Really Need a Hearing Aid?

Have you felt lately not to hear and understand everything as well as before? Or have you ever had hearing problems? Find out what signs suggest you have deafness and when a hearing aid is recommended.

Millions of people suffer from deafness or hearing problems. And this hearing loss does not only affect older people, it also affects more and more young people, even children. Hearing loss can occur at any age. Some of the most common hearing problems may include hearing loss, presbycusis, sudden hearing loss, tinnitus , hearing problems due to a cold, a hearing loss of perception or a sound trauma.

Most of the time, when you have a loss of hearing or total hearing loss, the hearing loss occurs insidiously and barely noticeable. It is often friends or family who notice the hearing loss and point it out to the hearing impaired person. But how can you realize for yourself that you are deaf and can benefit from a hearing aid amplifiers?

All this can translate to hearing loss. If you are not sure if you have a hearing loss, it is best to do a free hearing test online. If this test confirms hearing problems or deafness, we recommend that you take a closer examination with one of our hearing care professionals or with an otolaryngologist (ENT doctor). The specialist can detect the cause of your hearing problem, suggest the right treatment and decide if a hearing aid can help you improve your hearing.

If you need a hearing aid, learn about the different types of hearing aids. One of our qualified audiologists will help you choose the model that best suits your needs.

Binaural hearing: what is it?

Binaural hearing means you hear from both ears. It is the human’s ability to determine which direction a sound source is coming from. We also speak of directional hearing or spatial hearing. The sound signal or sound reaches the left ear and the right ear differently. Depending on where it comes from, it reaches one ear slightly faster and stronger than the other.

This shift is enough for our brain:
The time between the arrival of a sound wave on both ears is used to calculate the direction of sound. Only a person whose two ears are healthy can reliably locate the source of a noise. If you have trouble locating for example a ringing phone or a child calling, this could be the first sign of a hearing loss.

If you have been diagnosed with hearing loss on both ears, you need two hearing aids. In cases of deafness due to age or caused by noise, the damage is usually of the same gravity on both ears. The ENT doctor will then prescribe two hearing aids as treatment.

Since human hearing works binaurally and our ears depend on two independent sources, it is imperative to equip both ears with hearing aids. If you wear only a prosthesis, it may happen that the unprepared ear loses its ability to hear. It is possible to later equip the ear with a hearing aid, but that requires a lot of training.

In road traffic precisely, binaural hearing can save our lives, because it allows us to locate the origin of a car, a tram or even a bicycle bell. Carrying a hearing aid in each ear is also important for us to filter out ambient noise in conversations. Therefore, two prostheses also make sense when one of the two ears is much less affected by deafness. Every individual needs both ears to hear perfectly well.

In principle, one must restore his full hearing capacity as soon as possible so that the auditory response area in the brain receives enough stimuli and remains trained. If you are not sure if you have a hearing loss, do not wait to see your ENT doctor or hearing care professional. And enjoy all the sounds of life again.

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