To Hear Again Is To Live Again

The laughter of children, the song of a bird, the soft music of a violin, the voice of a loved one, these are all part of the wonderful world of sound. But they are also some of the sounds missed by those who suffer hearing impairment, the most prevalent, least-recognized, physical ailment in our world today. Affecting all ages, it is more common than the total cases of cancer, heart, kidney disease, tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, and blindness combined.

No Respecter of Person

Incomprehensible as it may seem, there was a time when a person who was unable to hear normally was classified as mentally retarded. Yet, many of the achievers in history lived with hearing loss. Everyone knows of Thomas Edison's sever hearing problem. Other greats, who overcame hearing handicap with the aid of hearing instruments, were financier Bernard Baruch, Great Britain's Sir Winston Churchill, Secretary of State Dean Acheson, favorite entertainer Jack Benny, and our past President Ronald Reagan. Yes, there is a plentiful supply of illustrious company for those who have chosen to lead happy, successful lives through electronic amplification.

What You Can Expect From Your Hearing Aid

Custom crafted to fit your specific degree and type of hearing loss, your hearing aid fitting can be expected to bring back the sounds. Voices, children laughing, music, and the multitude of different sounds, which inhabit the world in which we live, will once again be taken for granted by you. But, we can talk about the good and the bad. Blended with what you WANT to hear will be such sounds as traffic noise, the hum of machinery, the clatter of dishes, the screech of a cat or bark of a dog, and a great variety of "noises" that add up to the sound environment in which we all must live.

Be patient. It may take some time for you to learn to relax in our noisy world. But, you will relearn your forgotten skills and be able to ignore most unwanted sounds. Remember, at times, when background sound reaches peak levels of loudness, we all must accept that understanding what we want to hear will be difficult.

Learning to Hear Again

Learning to hear again requires a period of adjustment. To derive maximum benefit from your hearing aids, plan on improving gradually for six months to one year. How quickly you adjust will depend upon how long you have had a hearing loss, how much of a hearing loss you have, what kind of hearing loss you have, whether you have worn hearing instruments before, and your attitude toward wearing your hearing aids.

The First Week

Wear your hearing aids as much as possible listening to sounds around you. If you've never worn hearing instruments before, be prepared to hear sounds you've forgotten. Try to identify these sounds. Don't be discouraged if you can't identify all of them.

Talk to only one person at first at a distance not exceeding six-to-eight feet, and talk at ordinary conversational loudness. Do not subject yourself to abnormal tests, such as trying to hear a whisper. Don't listen with your eyes closed or in a dark room. Use your eyes for visual cues. All of us do that. Watching the speaker's face will help you to understand better. It's okay to tell someone that you have a hearing loss and ask him or her to speak more distinctly.

Don't try to be tough. Becoming nervous or frustrated in the beginning is a perfectly normal experience. Take your time, and you will enjoy your gradual progress. Your voice may sound strange at first, but the unnaturalness will soon disappear. If you read out loud for 20 minutes each day, you will get used to your voice more quickly.

Second Week

Continue to wear your hearing aids as long as possible each day. However, if you are becoming nervous or irritated, take them off for a little while. Your ears can get tired, too.

The radio or television is a mechanical reproduction of sound, not a natural sound. Many announcers, commentators, or actors may talk too rapidly and too indistinctly to be understood. If possible, have a family member with normal hearing set the volume for you. After a little time and practice, you should be able to hear and understand radio and television without difficulty at normal volume. You will find newscasts easiest, but don't be disappointed if you fail to understand all that is being said. Understanding will usually get better with time.

Third Week

By the beginning of the third week, you should have developed confidence in your hearing aid. You now understand how to insert and remove them easily. They should be comfortable to wear, loud sounds should be less annoying, and your voice should sound more natural. You should be trying your hearing aids in as many different situations as possible, paying close attention to the different sounds around you.

Fourth Week

By now you should be wearing your hearing aids all day. You will, no doubt, still miss some words. This does not mean your hearing aids are not effective. Everyone misses SOME words in conversation. The infrequent use of your hearing aids will not permit consistent enjoyment of better hearing.

Why You Hear But Sometimes Misunderstand

Our ears function to permit us to hear, but understanding what is heard takes place in the brain. At birth, no understanding of speech exists. As we hear words over and over again such as "Mama, Mama, Mama," we begin to develop a memory for words and their meaning. During a lifetime, a person may learn and understand as many as four thousand words. The more often words are heard, the stronger the memory patterns become. Recognizing and understanding conversation becomes effortless, but only for those who hear normally. Hearing loss generally comes on gradually and often goes undetected for five-to-ten years. Over this period of time, the brain may lose the ability to recognize sounds and certain words.

As you begin to wear your hearing aids, you will be introducing new sounds to the hearing centers of your brain; unfamiliar sounds for which no memory pattern exists. If at first some of these sounds are not recognized, you will classify them as noise and they will sound unnatural. This period of "auditory confusion" may last two-to-three months depending upon the duration and degree of your hearing impairment. It is the continuing exposure to unfamiliar sounds, which will result in an improved acoustic memory and better speech understanding. The amount of benefit received will depend a great deal on your ability to adjust to the new sound environment. So, be patient, be realistic in your expectations, and don't give up!

Do Not use Other Hearing Aids During Period Of Adaptation

Few hearing instruments are exactly alike and therefore each presents a different set of signals to your brain. Each set of signals may be perceived differently. To alternate instruments during the first ninety days could greatly increase auditory confusion. Often, a more properly fitted instrument that has been designed to emphasize speech clarity will appear to be less powerful or less desirable. Never go back to your old hearing aids. This is not beneficial...

Important: If you must wear instruments all the time, be sure it is your new fitting.

What Others Can Do To Help

It takes at least two people to communicate. When one has a hearing impairment, it is a problem that will be shared by both. Your friends and family can help.

Ask Them:

• Not to shout.
• Not to mumble.
• To avoid creating unnecessary noise.
• To not to talk while eating.
• To get your attention before speaking. Ask them to say your name first and to be sure they have your attention before continuing.
• To not talk too fast.
• To be at a distance of three-to-six feet when speaking to you.

Our Profession is Helping People to Hear

At Hearing West Texas, hearing instrument professionals are eager to help you obtain the maximum benefits possible with your hearing instruments. Should you experience any difficulty during your adjustment period, please do not hesitate to call for assistance.

Texas State Social Services Medicaid Department Helps Some

Being aware of the benefits of using hearing aids to address the challenges of hearing loss, Texas Medicaid has a hearing aid dispensing program. Not all qualify, and the worst cases come first. Many have benefited from this program, and many more Medicaid recipients in Texas need to be given the opportunity to participate. Unfortunately, the majority of Hearing Professionals remain busy with private pay and conventional health insurance patients so the hearing needs of those having Medicaid only are neglected. Hearing West Texas attempts to meet this need, fitting those who have often gone with out help because EVERY PERSON deserves an opportunity to HEAR.