Hearing Loss Education Center

Connecting people to a world of sound
 
Hearing Loss Education Center
Hearing & Hearing Loss Screening & Testing Treatment with Hearing Aids Hearing Aid Styles Hearing Aid Technologies Candidates for Hearing Aids The Process of Acquiring a Hearing Aid Insurance & Reimbursement Daily Life with a Hearing Aid Advanced Treatments for Hearing Loss Communication & Language Choosing the Right Treatment Resources
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Candidates for Hearing Aids

Hearing aids can be used by people of all ages and with many types of hearing loss. They can be safely and comfortably fitted for:

  • infants, toddlers, children, teens
  • adults, seniors
  • people with disabilities

While they can be used by people with all types of hearing loss, they are generally most useful for people with mild to moderately severe hearing loss that often occurs with normal aging, exposure to loud noise, drug reactions, head injury, or genetic factors. If you are interested in learning more about hearing aids, contact a hearing aid provider near you.

As the severity of hearing loss increases (to a severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss), hearing aids may not solve all hearing and communication problems. Additional items called assistive listening devices (ALD), may be needed to improve hearing in specific situations—such as telephone conversations, radio and television listening, lecturers in classrooms, public address systems, and other specialized settings.

When hearing aids are no longer enough a Baha bone conduction system, or a cochlear implant should be considered.

Wearing hearing aids first is a necessary step in the evaluation process for a cochlear implant since a cochlear implant is indicated for those individuals whose hearing healthcare provider has documented limited benefit from hearing aids.

Children should be fitted with hearing aids as soon as a hearing loss is detected (the earlier, the better).  It is recommended that infants and children try hearing aids for three to six months before considering a cochlear implant. The recommended timeframe will vary depending on the child's age, hearing history, and cause of the hearing loss. Wearing hearing aids may provide them with access to some sounds. It is also recommended that you begin a program of family-centered auditory therapy immediately following hearing aid and cochlear implant fittings.

When a patient has conductive or mixed hearing loss or single sided deafness, a Baha System may provide more benefit than hearing aids.

Contact a hearing healthcare professional to schedule a hearing test.

 



  
   

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to less than average ability to hear and understand sounds due to one or more parts of the hearing system not working properly.

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to problems hearing in both ears, not just one.

Hearing Loss

For hearing loss, refers to problems hearing in one, but not both ears

Mild Hearing Loss

People with mild hearing loss have some difficulty following speech, mainly in noisy situations; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 25 and 39 decibels (a standard measure of sound)

Moderate Hearing Loss

People with moderate hearing loss have difficulty following speech without a hearing aid; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 40 and 69 decibels (a standard measure of sound).

Severe Hearing Loss

People with severe hearing loss get help from powerful hearing aids, but often rely on lip-reading even when using an aid; quietest sounds they can hear in their better ear average between 70 and 89 decibels (a standard measure of sound).

Profound Hearing Loss

People with profound hearing loss mostly rely on lip-reading and/or sign language; the quietest sounds heard in their better ear average from 90 decibels or louder (a standard measure of sound).

Otosclerosis

A disease in which bone grows abnormally in the middle ear preventing structures within the ear from working properly and causing hearing loss.

Cochlea

Part of the ear that contains both the organ of hearing (the cochlea) and the organ of balance (the labyrinth).

Feedback

A high-pitched, sometime painful, whistling sound that occurs when a microphone picks up sound from a nearby speaker and replays it again and again (commonly occurs when a poorly fitting hearing aid earmold allows sound to “leak” from the speaker back into the microphone).

Assisstive Listening Devices

Electronic devices or accessories for hearing aids that provide extra help in specific listening situations (telephone, noisy backgrounds, small or large group settings, etc.).

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Hearing loss due to failure of the auditory nerve, also called nerve deafness.

Mastoid Bone

A portion of the lower skull bone that contains the inner ear.

Rehabilitation

For individuals who previously experienced hearing and get a cochlear implant, the comprehensive training program that “re-teaches” them how to hear and interpret sounds, to recover any lost speech skills, and to properly use the cochlear implant speech processor and controls.

Habilitation

For individuals who had not previously experience hearing and get a cochlear implant, the comprehensive training program that teaches them to hear and interpret sounds, to develop or improve speech skills, and to properly use the cochlear implant speech processor and controls.

Coverage

For health insurance, coverage involves making sure a health plan or policy pays for the cochlear implant device and related professional services (for example, physician and audiology services). Usually, you go through a preauthorization process. This means getting a guarantee from the health insurance plan that they will pay for the implant and services before getting treatment.

Billing

For health insurance, billing involves the process by which health care providers charge, code, and submit their bills (in the form of a claim) to the health insurance company or plan.

Payment

For health insurance, payment involves getting the full amount allowed for services given a health plan’s limitations, allowables, deductibles, and co-payments.

Menieres

A disorder of the fluid volume of the inner ear that can cause hearing loss, dizziness/vertigo, tinnitus (ringing in the ear), and/or pressure or pain in ear.

Meningitis

a viral or bacterial infection that causes inflammation and swelling of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord; among possible serious complications are hearing loss or deafness.

Mumps

a viral infection that causes swelling of the salivary glands; sometimes spreads to central nervous system which can result in hearing loss.

Measles

a viral infection that causes rash, fever, and cold-like symptoms; sometimes causes complications like ear or brain infections which can result in hearing loss.

Unilateral

on one side, but not the other; used to describe a type of hearing loss in which there is normal or somewhat impaired hearing in one ear and little or no hearing in the other ear.

Unilateral Hearing Loss

condition in which one ear has little or no hearing ability and the other ear has normal or close to normal hearing. Also referred to as Single Sided Deafness (SSD).

Osseointegration

the natural process of bone growing into the titanium fixtures creating a direct connection between an artificial implant and living bone.