You visit your eye doctor annually for a checkup and possible new prescription. You visit your dentist every six months to check for cavities and have your teeth cleaned. So, why do hearing care professionals recommend that you have your hearing aids checked three or four times per year?

The simple answer is that hearing aids are one the most sophisticated medical devices you can purchase. They are the equivalent of a high-fidelity stereo and an advanced microcomputer shrunk down to fit inside or on top of your ear. Today’s high-end hearing aids have hundreds, if not thousands, of parameters that can be fine-tuned for your benefit.

Are your hearing aids optimized for all the sounds you hear? You should be able to hear low pitch sounds, like a knock on your door, and also identify important high pitch sounds, such as the “k” or “t” sounds in the word “kite.”

Your ears and your internal ear canals have a unique shape. Depending on the shape of your ear canal, some sounds can be increased or decreased by more than ten times the original loudness. This is a very important physical phenomenon—and why hearing aids must be fit using sound measurements by a hearing care professional.

For example, if your hearing aids are set to make sounds at 3000 Hz (the pitch used for “s” and “f” sounds) louder by 25 decibels, but we don’t know that your ear canal naturally adds another 10–15 decibels, then the hearing aids won’t be set properly to handle the added loudness. This would result in your hearing aids making certain sounds (such as a whistle) painfully loud!

At Hearing Help Plus, we want your hearing aids to work optimally for your specific hearing needs. Even if you didn’t purchase them from us, we can help you get the best performance from these devices.

To schedule your next hearing or hearing aid checkup, please call 815-758-0157 today.

Hearing Help Plus

2535 Bethany Road, Suite 107

Sycamore, IL 60178

Ph: 815-758-0157

hearinghelpplus.com