Hearing &

Balance Tests

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Hearing & Balance Testing

Why You Need Two Ears

We’re often asked about why it’s important to wear two hearing aids. However a better way to think of this is that the human body doesn’t come with spare parts. You need what you came with. The reasons listed below outline advantages of binaural hearing (hearing with two ears).

Improved Understanding
Binaural hearing helps you sort out and understand individual voices.

Less Stressful Listening
Listening with only one ear is physically tiring and stressful. As nature intended, hearing with two ears allows you to enjoy more natural sound.

Safety
Our brain locates a sound source by measuring the tiny differences in duration and intensity between your ears and interpreted by your brain. This allows you to instantaneously recognize a sound’s exact location.

Both Ears Stay Active
When a hearing impaired person who has an equal hearing loss in each ear wears a hearing aid in only one ear, the unused ear tends to lose some its’ ability to hear and to understand.

Wider Hearing Range
A voice barely heard at ten feet away with one ear can be heard up to 40 feet away with two ears.

Hearing Aid FAQ

Myths about hearing loss & hearing aids.

36 million Americans suffer with some degree of hearing loss. Unfortunately many who could receive benefit from hearing aids don’t. People often don’t seek help simply because they’ve been supplied with the wrong information. Don’t let these common myths about hearing loss or hearing aids stop you from seeking professional help and treatment.

My hearing is normal for my age.

Your hearing is either in the range of “normal” or it isn’t. Your age has nothing to do with whether or not your hearing is “normal”.

My doctor would have told me if I need hearing aids.

A very small minority of family doctors actually screens their patients for hearing loss. If you do have a hearing loss, it may not be noticeable to your doctor during a 15-minute office visit in a one on one situation in a relatively quiet listening environment.

If I had a problem hearing I wouldn’t be able to hear it all the time.

A common misconception is that hearing loss is simply a uniform decrease in volume. In fact hearing loss can affect hearing levels differently at different frequencies (pitches).

The majority of people who experience hearing loss tend to lose the ability to hear higher pitched sounds before they lose the ability to hear low-pitched sounds. Which in part helps to explain why women and children can be harder for some with a hearing loss to hear than it would be for them to hear a man’s voice.

When I get hearing aids, everyone will know that I have a hearing problem.

Several of the signs of untreated hearing loss, such as difficulty understanding conversations and frequently asking people to repeat themselves, will always be much more conspicuous than your hearing aids.

Buying a set of hearing aids online will save time and money.

Shopping online can save time and money for many consumer goods; health care devices do not belong in that category. A hearing aid is a complex medical device, not just a sound amplifier. They should not be purchased off a shelf or online and worn right out of the box.

Hearing aids should be selected and fit following a comprehensive evaluation by a licensed hearing healthcare professional. To help with your adjustment to hearing aids, follow up support and counseling is a large part of the key to a successful hearing aid fit.