50+ Lifestyles

Ask the Audiologist

By Emily Steffel, Au.D., CCC-A
Audiology Consultants, P.C.

What is new in today’s hearing aid technology?

There are so many exciting new things in hearing aid technology! Some hearing aids are now completely rechargeable. These hearing aids plug into a charger each night, just like your phone, and you won’t have to mess with those tiny hearing aid batteries. There are also hearing aids that will send your phone call or music directly to your hearing aids without you having to hold the phone to your ear (helpful for the “hands-free” driving laws). There are even hearing aids that are both rechargeable and stream calls/music.

Additionally, most hearing aids nowadays can be connected to a smartphone so the phone becomes a remote
control, allowing patients to adjust their volume or program settings without ever having to touch the hearing aid at all, making the use of the hearing aids more discrete.

Lastly, there are hearing aids that use a new method for background noise reduction that uses classification of sounds rather than the direction of sounds to reduce background noises, which is a better option for some patients who have trouble in background noise. This gives us two different types of background noise reduction styles to better fit the wide range of hearing needs experienced by individuals with hearing difficulties. Overall it is plain to see today’s hearing aids are definitely “not your grandmother’s hearing aids.”

Emily Steffel is an audiologist at Audiology Consultants, P.C. For more information consult our ad in this publication for store locations and phone numbers.