Q&A

Q: "My father is 85 years old. What would be the best hearing aid for him?"

Or, "Would the Widex Inteo BTE be the best hearing aid for him?"
Or, better yet, "Should I buy him a Ferrari or a Hyundai?"

This is a very common question for us. The answer is that there is no one answer. The Ferrari or Hyundai question puts it best. It can be a matter of opinion and needs. The question leads to lots of other questions: How well does he see; how good is his sense of touch; how much does he want to spend; where will he use it; why does he need it?

Many things interact to tell the best hearing aid for a particular person. You might be able to guess this from the fact that audiologists may routinely schedule an hour and a half to make this decision with the patient, and that's after a thorough hearing evaluation.

Of course, you need to know about the person's hearing loss to chose the right circuits and amplification, but you also need to know about his lifestyle and other senses. If he can't see or feel small objects, he probably won't be able to handle the smaller hearing aids. He may not be able to put the batteries in right side up, or perhaps not at all. The small canal aids are great for some people because of their better directionality . But if he can't pick them up or put batteries in them, that's beside the point.

Some people really appreciate the power that remote controls give them, with their ability to change circuit types and volume for different listening situations. But others can't keep track of the remote, or don't want to bother with having to make changes all the time.

Economics plays a role in many cases. It may not matter that they really could use a Ferrari type of hearing aid. They can't afford one. A lessor hearing aid that still improves their hearing and helps them to function, may be a very good choice for that individual.

During the hour and a half "hearing aid evaluation" we talk about these things with the patient and his relatives. The patient is educated about the various styles of hearing aids. He is allowed to try on different brands and types of hearing aids and listen to them in various background sounds, such as restaurant babble, and automobile or street noise. The audiologist will demonstrate the good and bad features of each to make sure the patient can make an informed decision. The audiologist will observe the patient's ability to handle small objects and use the remote controls. By the end of the session, it is hoped that the patient will have selected the best aids for him. However, it is not uncommon for patients to request a second session to talk about the choices some more. Finally, after the patient has made his selections, he has a month to continue the evaluation while wearing his new hearing aids. If he decides something is not quite right, he is expected to come back for more conversations and perhaps to get the aids modified or exchanged for some other type or brand.

So, we can't answer the question about which hearing aid is best without a hearing aid evaluation session with the patient. Audiologists can carry more than a dozen different brands of hearing aids and each comes in many styles and circuit types. Other factors include faster service from some brands, or more liberal warranties (for example, some will re-case the hearing aids as a child grows larger, as a normal part of their warranty coverage). Only a thorough conversation with the audiologist in an unhurried setting will give the best answer for a particular individual.