Frequently Asked Questions about your hearing

• People seem to mumble all the time
• You hear, but have trouble understanding
• You often ask people to repeat themselves
• Telephone conversations are difficult
• You can’t hear household sounds, like a clock ticking
• It’s hard to hear without seeing the speaker’s face
• You are told you speak too loudly
• People say your television or radio volume is set too high
• You have ringing or buzzing in your ears
• You have trouble following conversations with more than two people
• You struggle to hear in crowded places, like restaurants
• You have a hard time hearing women or children

More about tinnitus

Hearing aids are electronic devices that pick up and amplify sound. They increase the volume of sounds that you normally wouldn’t hear. The hearing aids we offer at bloom hearing specialists do much more than amplify sound. The aid’s sophisticated circuitry is programmed by our hearing care professional to suit your unique hearing loss, and the high-tech features are selected based on your lifestyle. See our hearing aid range here.

At their most basic, hearing aids are microphones that convert sound into electrical signals. An amplifier increases the strength of the signal, then a receiver converts it back to sound and channels it into the ear canal through a small tube or ear mould. A battery is necessary to power the hearing aid and to enable amplification.

Two-ear hearing (called "binaural") is better than one. If you have hearing loss in only one ear, you may only need to wear a hearing aid in your bad ear. However, wearing two hearing aids has been proven to improve speech understanding in noise, localization (finding the source of sounds), and overall sound quality when compared to wearing only one aid. 

Age and noise-related hearing loss tend to affect both ears, but your hearing profile for each ear is probably different. If there is a loss in both ears, you will probably benefit more with a binaural solution. Today, more than 80 percent of all hearing aid fittings are binaural, or involve both ears. People report a higher level of satisfaction than purchasers of a single hearing aid.

Advantages of wearing 2 hearing aids include:

More Natural: The hearing becomes much more natural with sounds coming from all around you.
Safety: Being able to identify where the sound is coming from is only possible with two aids. e.g.. which direction is a car or bus coming from when you are out and about in the street?
Speech: It is twice as easy to understand the words when others are speaking.
Conversation: It enables your to participate in conversations when there is noise around you.
Relaxing: Hearing is less tiring and listening more pleasant.
Wider hearing range: A voice that’s barely heard at 3 meters with one ear can be heard up to 12 meters with two ears.
More comfortable: Listening to loud sounds is shared.

The average hearing aid lasts between 3 and 5 years, but longer with regular servicing and maintenance.

1. Be realistic
   Remember that your hearing loss has been gradual; over the years you have lost the ability to hear certain sounds in the speech spectrum and normal sounds of the environment, such as traffic and wind noise, the hum of machinery and other background noises.
2. Practice
   When you begin to wear hearing aids, these sounds will be restored but your brain will need practice and reeducation in order to selectively focus on and filter sounds. Some sounds may even startle you at first. Know that your brain will acclimate to these sounds again over time.
3. Be patient
   It takes time to adapt to hearing aids. Wear them as much as possible at first to become more skilled at recognizing sound direction and to learn which hearing aid settings work best for you in different situations
4. Rest
   The adjustment period may be tiresome. It’s a lot like retraining a muscle that hasn’t been used in a while. But the benefits will be worth it after you’ve made the adjustment.

• Environmental influences (e.g. humidity, temperature)
• Personal hearing habits have changed (longer period of use per day, higher noise level, new features of the hearing aid are being used)
• The hearing aid was in use longer than usual (e.g. night at the theatre)
• The hearing aid is new, or the type or brand of the hearing aid has changed
• The new hearing aid has additional features that require more energy

• The battery tab is removed and activation period as too short (It has to be 2 minutes or more before it is inserted into the hearing aid)
• The hearing aid is not switched off overnight or after a long period of non-use
• The battery loses capacity due to a short circuit when mishandled (e.g. through contact with metal objects)
• The battery is stored in a warm environment (e.g. in parked car in the sun)