Browsing the internet can lead you to several “too good to be true” deals on hearing aids. Many of the places offering such deals simply ask you to send in an audiogram and they will send you your instruments of choice. It all seems so easy and convenient; how could anyone say “no”?
But what happens when you suddenly have a problem with your hearing aids or need an adjustment to better hear others in a non-doctor’s office scenario? This is why we believe that having a clinical component to the purchase process is so important. Our in-house audiologist Kristin Pena shared her thoughts on why having a hearing health care provider involved throughout your dealings with Hearing Revolution is so important to your overall hearing aid experience.
“I’ve long been a believer that a successful hearing aid fitting requires three things: a willing patient who is ready to acknowledge and treat his/her hearing loss, the appropriate hearing aid for the patient’s lifestyle and hearing loss, and a skilled hearing healthcare professional who effectively communicates with the patient, understands his or her challenges, and works with the patient to overcome them.
Learning to use hearing aids can be a daunting task for many first-time wearers. From learning which direction the battery is seated to practicing putting the hearing aids in ears and taking them out again, the process can be stressful before the hearing aids are even on and in the ears. It is quite helpful to have a clinician to assist in these processes; someone to make things go more smoothly, taking the time to practice battery insertion and removal with the patient, taking the time to practice hearing aid insertion/removal with the patient, etc.
More importantly than learning how to insert/remove the instruments (which can be a difficult motor skill task for some of the senior population), it is important to have a clinical component when it comes to adjusting the hearing aids. Being able to go into the office and say “Hey, I’m having a really hard time hearing when I get somewhere noisy, like in a restaurant” or saying “when my grandkids are in the back seat of the car and I’m driving, I can’t hear what they’re saying at all” and so on will help the provider to adjust the instrument settings for the patient. The average new user comes in for 4-to-5 follow up visits after getting new hearing aids. These visits are to tweak the settings in the instrument so that they are specially tuned to the patient’s liking and lifestyle.
The bottom line is, When you purchase a hearing aid without a clinical component, you usually have to send the hearing aid away to be adjusted for issues similar to the ones above. Doing this via USPS mail means that you are without your hearing aids for 10 days-2 weeks at a time, and since the person adjusting your aids doesn’t have you in front of them telling them how the instruments sound to you, so how it sounds is how it sounds and you have to keep sending it back for more adjustments. Every time you send it back, you are without your hearing aid for 1-2 weeks.”
To learn more about the clinical component of our programs or to schedule an appointment, please contact us at (877) 426-0687.