What We Offer
Hearing Aid Consultation
Confidence Hearing encourages you to bring your communication partners/family members to your audiological sessions. This way any decisions are family centred and informed, based on what you and your family would like to achieve from an aural rehabilitation program.
All sessions offer you advice and counselling on the best treatment options to move forward. When advising on hearing aids your type and degree of hearing loss, anatomy of your ear canals, speech perception scores, lifestyle and aesthetic preferences are all considered when helping you choose the best possible option within your financial comfort zone.
However, if you are not ready to take any action at this stage, we simply provide you with all relative information to educate you as much as possible.
Additionally, if you use a current hearing device that you are not happy with, book a time to consult with Tara about your options.
Importantly, a holistic approach is used to determine best outcomes, based on health co-morbidities, mental and cognitive health.
Hearing Aid Fitting
Once hearing aids are chosen, they are programmed to your individual needs. Your hearing aids will have a range of features and tools which Dr Bisheh can adjust to your hearing. The shape of your ear canals is also considered when fitting you with hearing aids through a test called a ‘real ear measurement’. Your device will be tested with a range of sounds to see how well they perform in various acoustic environments. Ongoing follow up care ensures you are happy with the function of your aid. Continuous counselling and education are offered to you and your family on hearing aids management, communication strategies, troubleshooting, as well as fine tuning.
Many patients become frustrated when they realise a hearing aid isn’t going to cure their hearing loss. Hearing aids cannot restore normal hearing like glasses can restore one’s vision. So, Confidence Hearing works closely with you to build success with your hearing aid usage. The effectiveness of your hearing aid increases with consistent use and experimentation in different environments.
Hearing Aid Repairs
Confidence Hearing can help you with in-house maintenance and repairs such as replacing domes, filters, speakers and retubing ear moulds. However, for more complex issues your hearing aids are sent to their relative manufacturers for expert repairs. We can arrange this for you.
What is a Hearing Aid?
It is a miniature electronic sound system, that can be worn in or behind your ears, that amplifies sounds for the user. It is made up of a microphone, amplifier and speaker and compensates for your hearing loss and improves your hearing in both quiet and noisy environments.
How do Hearing Aids Work?
Analog Hearing Aids were the first hearing aid devices developed. They work by converting sound waves into electrical signals which are then amplified. Analog systems can be used in all types of hearing aids and tend to be cheaper than digital aids. However, they are less in use in Australia.
Digital Aids are a later development where sound waves are converted to numerical codes before they are amplified. Their advancement is that they can reduce background noise and feedback resulting in clearer speech sounds. They contain directional microphones making it easier to pick up sound from a direction and can be programmed intuitively to your individual needs. They are often smaller in size than analog aids.
Hearing Aid Options
Behind-the-Ear (BTE) hearing aids are the most common type in Australia. They are suitable for children as well as adults who have mild to profound hearing loss. A hard plastic case sits behind the ear and is connected to a plastic earmold fitted inside the outer ear. A later version includes a narrow tube and a plastic dome inserted into the ear canal which helps issues of occlusion.
In-the-Ear (ITE) hearing aids are positioned entirely inside the outer ear and are suitable for mild to severe hearing loss. ITE hearing aids can contain a telecoil which acts like a receiver. This system is compatible with the induction loop hearing system employed in public places such as schools, churches, auditoriums, and airports. ITE aids do not suit young children as they will need regular recasting as children’s ears grow.
In-the Canal (ITC) hearing aids are fitted to the size and shape of your ear canal.
Completely-in-Canal (CIC) hearing aids are almost hidden completely in the ear canal.
Both styles are suitable for mild to moderately severe hearing loss. Their advantage is their small size and less visibility but this in turn can mean they are hard to adjust to and they lack some of the more powerful features found in other aids. Therefore, they are not recommended for people with more severe hearing loss or children.
Implantable Hearing Aids
A middle-ear-implant (MEI) is a small device attached to one of the bones of the middle ear. Its function is to increase the sound vibrations directly to the inner ear. It needs to be implanted by surgery so is not attractive to everyone.
Bone-Anchoring Hearing Aids
A bone anchoring hearing aid (BAHA) is a small device attached to the bone behind the ear, via surgery. Sound vibrations are transmitted to the inner ear through the skull rather than its normal pathway. This aid may be beneficial for those who suffer from a middle ear hearing loss.
Adjusting to Wearing a Hearing Aid
People that enjoy success with amplification understand that the effectiveness of their hearing aid increases with time and experimentation. The more they wear it the greater their success. But it does take time and patience. Wearing them consistently helps with this. We will show you how to insert and remove them, how to keep them clean, how to change the batteries and how to adjust them.
Some common problems users experience at the beginning:
I feel uncomfortable wearing my hearing aids
My own voice sounds too loud
My hearing aids give me feedback
There is a lot of background noise
When I use my mobile phone, I can hear a buzzing sound
All these issues can be solved or improved by making various adjustments to your aid. We will support you to achieve the best outcomes for your individual usage.
Caring for Your Hearing Aid
Follow the instructions for cleaning and be aware that ear wax and discharge can damage your aids
Turn off aids when you are not using them
Avoid heat and moisture exposure
Avoid using hairspray or other hair care products when you are wearing them
Replace dead batteries promptly
Keep batteries and hearing aids away from children and pets
Advancements in Hearing Aids
With improved technology hearing aids now have more advanced sound processing systems.
They can be connected to your mobile phone and other devices wirelessly, allowing sound signals to bypass the hearing aid’s microphone and enter the hearing aid’s sound processor directly. This means they can better target those sound frequencies where you are experiencing hearing loss by minimising background noise and feedback. Additionally, some hearing aids can now automatically sense the environment you are in and adjust accordingly.
They are also now more efficient and cost effective with rechargeable batteries replacing the need for regular battery replacement.
