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Hearing
Aids have positive impact on Quality of Life
Issues, benefits to wearing Hearing Aids
worth the cost
Newswise — With the struggling economy,
everyone is trying to save money. People are
eating out less and staying home instead of
taking vacations. Unfortunately, at times
like this, there also is a tendency for
people with hearing loss to forego
physician-recommended treatments, such as
hearing aids.
“Patients are coming in to have their
hearing tested and even after the tests show
a hearing loss significant enough that a
hearing aid would help them, patients are
deciding not to get hearing aids right now,”
said Allen Senne, Au.D., director of
audiology and hearing aid dispensing at the
House Clinic.
Hearing professionals at the House Ear
Institute (HEI) and House Clinic encourage
people experiencing a hearing loss to think
twice before trying to save money by not
getting hearing aids when recommended. The
positive impact that today’s hearing aids
can have on a hearing loss patient’s quality
of life, including their career success,
usually far outweighs the initial
investment.
Many people are not aware of the
advancements made in hearing aid technology
over the last ten years, which have led to
major improvements in quality and choice.
Some digital hearing aids now have
background noise reduction capability,
directional microphones, the ability to have
multiple memory settings for different
environments and some have remote controls.
“Hearing aids today are not the same hearing
aids that people remember their grandparents
using,” said Senne.
“The stigma surrounding using a hearing aid
is decreasing and many hearing aids are
designed so they are hardly noticeable which
helps patients feel less self conscious.”
Hearing loss left untreated with hearing
aids can negatively affect a person’s
quality of life.
Overtime, a person may find themselves not
wanting to go out or be with friends because
they find it difficult to participate in
conversations.
A 2007 study by the Better Hearing Institute
suggests untreated hearing loss negatively
impacts household income by almost $23,000
per year.
However, the study found a person using
hearing aids can restore lost income by 50
percent.
“Unfortunately, untreated hearing loss can
lead to a person feeling isolated from
family and friends,” said Jose Fayad, M.D.,
House Clinic neurotologist and HEI
researcher.
“We see patients after they have been fitted
with a hearing aid and they are so much
happier because they are doing better at
work and able to participate in life again
because they can hear.”
For more information, please visit the
institute website at
www.hei.org
and the clinic site at
www.houseearclinic.com.
For video from the House Ear Institute,
please visit the institute newsroom at
http://newsroom.hei.org/pr/hei/default.aspx
or on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/user/HouseEar.
You also can follow House Ear Institute on
Twitter, @HouseEar, and Facebook through the
Ear Bud and House Ear Institute profile
pages.
About the House Ear
Institute
The House Ear Institute (HEI) is a
non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated
to advancing hearing science through
research and education to improve quality of
life.
HEI scientists investigate the cellular and
molecular causes of hearing loss and related
auditory disorders as well as neurological
processes pertaining to the human auditory
system and the brain.
Our researchers also explore technology
advancements to improve auditory implants,
hearing aids, diagnostic techniques and
rehabilitation tools.
The
Institute shares its knowledge with the
scientific and medical communities as well
as the general public through its education
and outreach programs.
For more information about HEI please call
(800) 388-8612 or visit
www.hei.org.
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