How to Make the Most Out of Hearing Care Follow-Up Appointments

After you’ve had your initial visit with your hearing care professional and you’ve been fitted with your hearing aid(s), it’s important that you keep up with your hearing care. Just like your overall health, your hearing health can benefit from routine maintenance. Routine visits are the perfect time to ask your audiologist questions or to have maintenance performed on your hearing aids to keep your quality of hearing at its best.

Here are some tips for getting the most out of your follow up visits:

1. Be prepared to discuss your overall experience with your hearing aids. Are there specific things about them you like or don’t like? Were your expectations met or not? Have there been any situations or environments in which your hearing aids could work better for you? A good way to be fully prepared for this discussion is by keeping a detailed journal of your life with hearing aids so you can write down any concerns or questions as they arise. Things to note would be any new sounds you have heard since wearing your device or making note of environments or situations where your hearing aids work great or where they could work better.
2. Thoroughly check the fit of your hearing aid. If there is a problem with the fit of your hearing aids, this will be the time to bring it up. Whether it’s a sore spot in your ear canal or maybe your hearing aids aren’t staying in place due to the wrong size tubing, your hearing care professional will be able to address these issues and fix them for you.
3. Bring a third party to your appointment. Bringing a friend or family member with you can be very helpful. They can offer unique perspectives and additional insight or even take notes to help remind you of important information.
4. Build a solid relationship with your audiologist. Your audiologist should be your biggest advocate in your journey to better hearing. It’s their job to help you maintain your hearing aids and answer any questions you have. They should also keep you updated on changing technology, provide advice and give you suggestions for aural rehabilitation. Your audiologist should be someone you can trust and continue to visit for follow-up appointments.

To schedule a follow-up appointment please call Evolution Hearing in Charlottesville, VA at 434-260-8007 or our Raleigh, NC location at 919-670-3258.

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Summer Travel Tips with Hearing Aids

Summertime is upon us and that means warm weather, time spent outdoors and family vacations! But summer weather and traveling can be stressful for those with hearing aids, which is why we want to share some tips to ensure you have an enjoyable, stress-free summer!

1. Let People KnowWhen traveling it’s important to make sure people know you wear hearing aids. When you’re going through airport security, hearing aids can set off the metal detectors, so tell a security officer to avoid issues. Other traveling scenarios where it’s good to let people know about your hearing aids include riding in cabs and dining out at restaurants. This information will help your cab driver or waiter/waitress provide better service and understanding. 

2. Ensure ProtectionMake sure you keep your hearing aids in a protective case and out of direct sunlight when you are not wearing them and remove them before swimming or during activities where you might be exposed to water. If your vacation includes attending a loud area or event, be sure to bring earplugs to help block out extra noise. Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean you can let your guard down with your hearing aids. 

3. Get OrganizedBefore you get to your travel destination, make sure to map out hearing-friendly locations. Most public lines of transportation, museums, theaters, etc. provide assistive listening devices to help those with hearing loss understand announcements better. If you use Bluetooth accessories, don’t forget to bring those along. They can make it easier to talk to flight attendants, airline employees or anyone else in noisy environments. 

4. Take ExtrasDon’t get caught on vacation without properly working hearing aids! Make sure you pack extra batteries, domes, wax guards and all other hearing aid accessories that you might need while you’re away from home.Enjoy your vacation! 

Traveling should be an enjoyable experience. Make the most of your trip by planning ahead. Have questions about how to care for your hearing aids? Call Evolution Hearing in Charlottesville, VA at 434-260-8007 or call our Raleigh, NC location at 919-670-3258 today. 

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The Difference Between Cochlear Implants and Hearing Aids

You probably know what a hearing aid does, but have you ever heard of a cochlear implant?

While hearing aids are used to treat varying degrees of hearing loss by amplifying sound, a cochlear implant is used when hearing aids are insufficient. They transform sounds into electrical energy that stimulates your auditory nerve. These devices are implanted surgically and are used to treat profound hearing loss due to absent or reduced cochlear hair cell function.
 

Both of these medical devices are used to treat sensorineural hearing loss, which is the most common type of hearing loss, but hearing aids are much more common.

In fact, in 2012 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration estimated that 12 million Americans wear hearing aids and roughly 58,000 adults and 38,000 children use cochlear implants. To put those statistics into perspective, for every one person wearing a cochlear implant, there are 125 people wearing hearing aids. 
 

So how does the cochlear implant work?

It is made up of two parts: the internal receiver/stimulator and the microphone and magnetic transmitting coil. The internal receiver is surgically implanted in your ear, while the microphone and coil fit externally behind the ear and on the side of the head. The microphone picks up sound, translates it into coded signals and sends it through the transmitting coil to the implant located under the skin. Electrical energy is then sent to the electrodes in the cochlea, which stimulates the auditory nerve and travels to the brain for interpretation.
 

Is a cochlear implant right for you?

Most cochlear implant recipients try hearing aids out first. If you’ve tried hearing aids and they haven’t benefitted you due to profound sensorineural hearing loss or congenital deafness, then cochlear implant surgery may be something to consider. To determine whether or not it’s the right move, you will need to have audiologic testing, a medical exam and possible x-rays/MRI.
 

Fortunately, the majority of individuals with mild to moderate hearing loss will benefit from traditional hearing aids. Although hearing aids don’t process sound like cochlear implants, they are less expensive and can be manually adjusted, repaired, replaced and removed easily.
 

For more information on cochlear implants or hearing aids and information on how we can help you, call Evolution Hearing at our Charlottesville, VA office at 434-260-8007 or our Raleigh, NC location at 919-670-3258.

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Assistive Listening Devices

Hearing loss can affect us in multiple ways throughout our lives. Thankfully our experts at Evolution Hearing have access to the latest technology offering Assistive Listening Devices for improved experiences with your family and friends no matter where you are.

At Evolution Hearing, everyone is working for patients to recover from hearing issues. We understand the threat to qualitative life if a person has a hearing problem and thus, we have best Audiologists of Raleigh and Virginia like Dr Ashley Lindberg, Dr Kristin Koch and Dr Kathleen Culbertson.

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