Have you ever though your life without hearing? Our ears are the most sensitive and important part of our body, which connect us from the outer environment and enable us to hear the normal conversations. It is important to keep our ears in good condition, but even after having all the preventions, hearing loss can occur even without our knowledge. Hearing loss is a number one birth defect which can be diagnosed based on the person's history, behavior, auditory condition, and hearing ability. If you think that you are having hearing loss, then you are not alone as most of the people of all ages are suffering from this dilemma. Below are some questions and if you answer yes for most of the questions, then chance maybe you might be having hearing loss in one or both of the ears.

  • Having difficulty in hearing the normal conversations?
  • Fail to hear the female voice?
  • Ask people to repeat themselves?
  • Often turn up the volume of TV or radio?
  • Having difficulty in hearing on phones?
  • Avoid joining the parties and noisy environments?

If your answer is YES for most of the questions, then you must consult to your nearby health specialist or you should take Hidden Hearing test in order to know the condition of your auditory system. As the medical field is continuously experiencing advancements in technology, you can find a number of ways through which you can improve your hearing or minimize the effects of hearing loss in your life.

Hearing Aids:

Hearing loss may occur due to several reasons and some of the common reasons are buildup of earwax, fluid in the ear, birth defects, damage in the inner ear, and benign tumors, but hearing aids are the devices which can actually reduce the effects of hearing loss. Hearing aids are one of the powerful devices for hard of hearing people which take sounds from outside the ear, and then amplify this sound and revert it back to the inner ear. With the advancements in medical field and technological devices, these hearing aids have changed and enhanced over the past few years. These new and advanced devices are not only attractive in designs, but they are more powerful and featured as compared to the traditional devices. Unlike old hearing devices, these devices may be more expensive, but they are more digital and functional. They are having more powerful digital signal processors that are used in the counter devices. In the ear, behind the ear, in the cannel, half-shelf, and full-shelf are some popular models of advanced hearing aid devices. These new designs are more powerful amplifiers that often look trendy and fit comfortably in the ear.

Cochlear Implants:

Cochlear implants are another helpful technology for hard of hearing people that are somewhat similar to hearing aids. These devices are helpful for those people who are not benefited or insufficiently benefited from hearing aid devices. Though, hearing aids and cochlear implants both are similar and designed to assist hearing loss, but hearing aids work for those who have only mild to moderate forms of hearing loss, while cochlear implants work for people who have severe to profound hearing loss. Cochlear implant consists of two components in which the internal component has microphones that pick up the sounds and send it to a speech processor. This speech processor then amplifies the sounds to audible speech, which are in the form of electrical impulses. After getting the electrical impulses, a receiver and stimulator convert these pulses into acceptable auditory signals. The major difference between hearing aid and cochlear implant is that hearing aids are the devices that aid the ear by amplifying the sounds, while cochlear implants work as an alternative to the damaged cochlea which send the electric impulses to the brain that reacts in response to the sound.

Assistive Technology:

Assistive technology has boomed in recent years and it has become the crucial component for hard of hearing people in this modern life. Assistive technologies are boon for people with disabilities which has done miracles for these people and made their life full of confidence and cheerful. Assistive technology helps in various listening situations improving the auditory adaptability. This technique is beneficial for those people who are not benefited to normal hearing aid technology, which is why this advance technology helps them to listen to the normal conversations and other low pitched sounds. People with profound hearing loss can easily get telephone communications, the voice of a smoke alarm system, or any other public communications. Hearing aid device based on assistive technology is more advanced and featured as compared to the traditional hearing devices. This technology is not only beneficial for hard of hearing people, but it is also suited for the people who are having other kinds of disabilities.

Captioning:

Captioning is a new technique which can be helpful for these hard of hearing people. Captioning means the written text or the spoken words which are displayed on the TV screen. Most of the TV programs, movies and commercial aids are using this captioning technique for hard of hearing people so that they can easily understand what is being said. If the captions are not visible, then you can also turn on captioning option directly by the TV remote or through the menu section. Just like the TV shows, most of the movies and DVDs are captioned. This captioning option can also be found on telephones.

Image Source: www.google.com