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They are adjusted to suit you, and although expensive, can improve your life
By Evangeline Mitchell
Contra Costa Times
Published on Tuesday, Aug 05, 2008
WALNUT CREEK, CALIF.: If your hearing isn't as good as it used to be, you may be thinking about getting a hearing aid.
Then again, there's a good chance you can't be bothered, even though you find yourself cranking up the volume on the TV set or asking a friend sitting next to you to speak up. If so, you are not alone.
More often than not, people put off getting a hearing aid after they first notice it's getting harder to hear, said East Bay, Calif., audiologist Leigh Kjeldsen. ''People wait an average of seven years between knowing they have a problem with hearing and doing something about it.''
Why the wait?
''People don't know about the process and don't know where to begin,'' said Kjeldsen, owner of Valley Audiology, which has offices in Concord, Calif., and Walnut Creek, Calif.
The first step is to get your hearing tested by a hearing professional. That's followed by more evaluations to help the patient determine what type of hearing aid would best fit his or her hearing needs. Once a hearing aid is selected, there is a fitting, which involves adjusting the hearing aid to best meet the patient's hearing needs. Often, patients come back for further adjustments after the initial fitting.
While a hearing aid can indeed improve your life by improving your ability to hear, they are not cheap. The cost of a quality analog hearing aid can go from $900 to $1200 while a digital aid can range from $1,300 to $3,000, according to the Mayo Clinic Web site. And that's just for one.
''Some people need one, some people need two,'' depending on their hearing needs, Kjeldsen said.
Digital adjustments
Digital hearing aids, which are programmed by a computer, allow for more flexibility and fine-tuning of the hearing aid so that it can be adjusted to hearing fluctuations of the user as well as different hearing environments.
''Hearing aids nowadays, I like to think of them as miniature computers. They are programmed for each individual's hearing loss. . . . It's not one size fits all. . . . Once the hearing aid is programmed, it can be reprogrammed,'' Green said.
Today, requests for analog hearing aids are rare, Kjeldsen said.
''Just about all the hearing aids sold these days are digital,'' she said. ''I would say in the last five years there have been incredible advances in what a (digital) hearing aid can do.''
Hearing aids cover a wide range when it comes to prices.
''People need to know there is a very wide range of cost per hearing aid and that all depends on the level of technology,'' said Robert Green, an audiologist at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. Smaller, less visible hearing aids tend to cost more than larger ones, he said.
Hearing aids might need to be replaced after several years of use to accommodate a person's changing hearing needs. However, digital aids have more flexibility when it comes to programming to adapt to a person's changing hearing needs.
Not only are hearing aids expensive, but Medicare won't pay for them. People have to either buy a hearing aid as an out-of-pocket expense or have supplemental Medicare or retiree insurance to help foot the bill. Some programs to help pay for hearing aids might be available from nonprofit and government agencies.
Wide need
Hearing loss affects more than 28 million Americans, including nearly 6 million children.
With baby boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) starting to turn 60, the number of people with hearing loss is expected to nearly double by the year 2030, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America. The likelihood of losing your hearing increases as you get older, with up to one in three people older than 65 having some kind of hearing loss, according to the association.
Although 95 percent of Americans with a hearing loss can be successfully treated with hearing aids, only 22 percent (or 6.35 million individuals) currently use hearing aids.
''Hearing aids are very expensive so a lot of people are convinced they are not going to get value for what they are paying. There is a lot of skepticism,'' Green said.
In California, consumers can obtain hearing aids from three kinds of hearing-aid dispensers: hearing-aid specialists, dispensing audiologists or a physician licensed as a hearing-aid dispenser.
All three types of hearing-aid dispensers have to be licensed and pass written and practical examinations related to their field.
Audiologists are required to have at least a master's degree related to audiology (an educational requirement that is in the process of being upgraded to a doctoral level). Becoming a licensed hearing-aid specialist requires a high school degree and working under the supervision of a licensed hearing-aid dispenser for at least three years.
When choosing a hearing aid dispenser, it's a good idea to get recommendations from friends. Senior citizens might want to check with a local senior club. Also, check with your local Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed.
Many hearing-aid sales are the result of referrals made by primary-care doctors or a friend or family member that has come to Valley Audiology, Kjeldsen said.
But there are also times when a person with a hearing problem is brought in by a spouse or child who will say ''she just can't hear anymore,'' said Green.
''What is at the heart of this whole process is whether or not the person (with the hearing problem) is actually ready for (a hearing aid). She is the one who is going to wear it. She is the one who has to make the decision. . . . It's not something people are kind of excited about, but for a lot of people it's a necessity.''
WALNUT CREEK, CALIF.: If your hearing isn't as good as it used to be, you may be thinking about getting a hearing aid.
Get the full article here.
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