Collin County Living Well Magazine March/April 2020 | Page 29

ADVANCEMENTS IN
HEARING AID TECHNOLOGY
By Elizabeth Brassine, Au.D.
L
ike all high-tech devices, hearing aids have improved
significantly over the past several years in terms of per-
formance and advancements. Today’s hearing aids still
amplify sounds, but thanks to digital and technological ad-
vances, they’re much smarter and more selective in what
they amplify. Like phones that now do a lot more than just
let you talk to people, hearing aids can do a lot more than
just make sounds easier to hear.
Help with Hearing in Noise
One of the biggest challenges people with hearing loss
have is hearing in noisy places like restaurants or at social
designed to help you focus on
speech from a certain direc-
tion. Noise reduction makes
listening more comfortable, al-
lowing you to focus on who or
what you want to hear.
Wireless Connectivity
One of the most popular new
advances is wireless hearing
aids. With wireless, sound
from your TV, computer or phone is streamed right into
your ears at the volume you
choose and control. This
direct connection results in
more immersive, enhanced
sound as you’re now able to
listen at the volume you want
without having to turn the
volume up loud in the room.
And innovative accessories
enable you to seamlessly
switch between different
settings (like remote micro-
phone which lets you hear
as though you are standing
right next to the presenter)
and different devices. You
can also remotely control
your hearing aids.
gatherings. It’s not that they can’t hear, it’s that they can’t
hear clearly. It’s all one muddled mass of sound and the
voices of the people they’re with don’t stand out.
The best of today’s hearing aids remedy those challeng-
es with directional microphones and noise reduction tech-
nology. Programmed specifically to your hearing, they’re
Other Advances
to Ask About
When talking to your audiolo-
gist, ask about other features
that can have an impact on
how your hearing aids sound
and perform, including: moisture, wax and oil barrier (ad-
vancements in mechanical design and protective coating
help make hearing aids wear and wax/oil repellent); chan-
nels (additional channels allow your audiologist to create
customized settings for different sound frequency ranges;
ear-to-ear processing (means that both your hearing aids
“work together”) to create a better listening experience.
Elizabeth Brassine is a Doctor of Audiology and the owner of Hearing Services of McKinney.
COLLIN COUNTY Living Well Magazine | MARCH/APRIL 2020
27