Technology is always changing.  ALWAYS… and that is a good thing.  Often; you will hear me say or write that “you hear with your brain.”   So lets delve into that a little deeper.  We see with our brain.  We feel with our brain.  We move with our brain.  Our brain controls everything. 

So what happens when we hear but just can’t always understand…especially when our brain seems just fine?  If you have the most common  hearing loss that means that there is damage to your hearing nerves.  When damage occurs to these nerves then when they are stimulated a distorted signal actually is what is going to the brain.  Ever feel like when you turn up the tv it is louder…but not clearer?  This is because of the distortion from the damaged nerves.  Same with hearing aids… louder doesn’t necessarily make it clearer.  This is where technology comes in.

Good hearing instruments today do not just amplify sound.  They clear it up.  They break sounds into millions of little bits, reconfigure it for your hearing loss and hearing needs and reproduces it for you at a comfortable and clear volume.  They attack background noise by separating all of the sound that is being gathered in the environment into many different categories.  After they are categorized then the specific processors in the instrument will adjust the processors to control the various sounds that are interfering with the speech signal.  Truly amazing.

If your hearing instruments are over two years old and you are not hearing as well as you think you should be then it would behoove you to check into new technology.  The latest release; Starkey Omega with DNN360 (Deep Neural Network) to emulate the function of the brain is setting this industry on fire.  The aids have a 72% quieter noise floor than anything on the market.  That’s engine noise.  Even if your hearing loss is significant and you can not hear your instruments running… your brain still gets the distortion.  It interferes with clear signal processing and causes interference from speech. 

These new instruments are super clear.  Patients constantly tell me that they sound; “Normal…. Like it used to sound”..  That’s beautiful.  I Love seeing happy smiling faces.  If you are not hearing as well as you think you should be then it may be time for an upgrade.  We will be glad to help you!  385-3497.  To Hear Better Is To Live Better!!

By: Roseann B. Kiefer, BC-HIS