What degree of hearing loss does one have to have to get a hearing aid?
kramer asked:
Im in my 30’s with a childhood history of chronic ear infections (the docs say I have alot of scar tissue) , tubes in my ears 4 times, my early years of school were spent in speech therapy, in my 20’s I had a head injury which only made my hearing worse I feel my hearing has gotten worse over the years Any advice from someone who has a hearing aid would be greatly appreciated
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Im in my 30’s with a childhood history of chronic ear infections (the docs say I have alot of scar tissue) , tubes in my ears 4 times, my early years of school were spent in speech therapy, in my 20’s I had a head injury which only made my hearing worse I feel my hearing has gotten worse over the years Any advice from someone who has a hearing aid would be greatly appreciated
February 5th, 2009 at 3:42 am
Your absolute best answer is going to come from an audiologist who can test your hearing and make his/her recommendations as to when a hearng aide would be useful and necessary for you.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Any hearing loss greater than 20 decibels is correctable with an aid. Everyone’s different. Have your hearing screened, and find out what options are available through a licensed audiologist. NOT a hearing aid dealer/dispenser.
February 7th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Hi, I’m an Audiologist
There is no prerequisite degree of hearing loss for hearing aid fitting. There are mild gain instruments used by people who have no hearing loss, but have learning disabilities that make focusing on sound and speech difficult. By enhancing just the softer sounds of speech without making loud sounds any louder, the patients are better able to follow what is being said.
Prior to considering hearing aids, you may want to consult an ear surgeon to determine whether there are any reconstructive surgeries that might help your hearing. In most cases, the audiologist would want you to obtain otologic clearance for hearing aids prior to prescribing hearing aids for the first time - especially with a history of frequent ear infections, surgeries and scarring. If it is determined that surgery is not an option, or if you elect not to have surgery, you will want to consult an audiologist that will prescribe a device that is appropriate for your not only for your hearing loss, but your listening environments and lifestyle as well.
It is also important to have realistic expectations, as many factors can impair a person’s ability to listen and comprehend that are beyond the capacity of a device that can only help with hearing acuity. As mentioned above, there are learning disabilities, neurological and psychological disorders that impair a person’s ability to focus on, comprehend or remember what they have heard.