What does a hearing aid specialist do?

What is a Hearing Aid Specialist?

A hearing aid specialist, also known as a hearing instrument specialist, is a professional who evaluates people with hearing problems and chooses the best hearing aid to improve their condition. Hearing loss is frequently encountered among the elderly, but also in younger people. Although age is the primary cause of hearing loss, there are other causes such as loud noise, infections, tumours, a ruptured eardrum or an accumulation of excessive earwax in the ear canal.

It is estimated that more than 30 percent of people aged between 65 and 75 suffer from hearing loss to some extent. Moreover, more than half of people who are older than 75 have hearing loss. These people are the main focus of hearing aid specialists because people with other hearing disorders who need a thorough medical examination or specialized treatment are usually referred to audiologists or ear-nose-throat (ENT) doctors.

Because such a significant portion of the elderly population suffers from age-caused hearing loss, the demand for hearing aid specialists is high. A person who has poor hearing due to degeneration caused by age may be effectively tested by a hearing aid specialist, who will also select the appropriate hearing instrument to satisfy the patient's hearing needs.

What does a Hearing Aid Specialist do?

Hearing aid specialists are able to serve the vast majority of people who have hearing loss caused by age, but they are not qualified to provide help to people who fall in different medical categories, such as people with mental disorders or people afflicted by specific diseases that are addressed by ENT specialists.

Hearing aid specialists evaluate each case depending on the results of testing and assessment. The most commonly employed hearing test is an audiogram, which precisely determines the extent of hearing loss in both ears of a patient. However, other tests may be applied when necessary. Audiologists have advanced testing capabilities, however such tests are not required for the vast majority of the population who suffer from hearing loss caused by age. After evaluating the test results, hearing aid specialists select a variety of hearing aids that the patient will try. Hearing aids are small devices that are inserted in the ear or are placed behind the ear, and which amplify and direct the sound towards the inner ear for better hearing.

There are a few things to consider when choosing the appropriate hearing aid. First of all, the patient needs to be comfortable with the operation of a particular hearing aid because it may differ in the way it amplifies the sound for the final result. There are no bad or good hearing aids. They just need to be appropriately selected. A second consideration is the style of the hearing aid. They may be worn behind the ears, which are usually larger devices, or they may be placed in the ear. Moreover, there are smaller hearing aids that occupy only the ear canal and are barely noticeable to an observer. A hearing aid specialist will guide the patient through the entire process and will make the necessary adjustment of device settings to ensure a comfortable level of hearing and no collateral noise.

What is the workplace of a Hearing Aid Specialist like?

Hearing aid specialists work in offices that provide hearing aid services to people who suffer from hearing loss. They work with testing equipment and usually have a wide selection of hearing aids available for selection. If the patient is a child, a person with a psychiatric disorder, or a person suffering from a less frequently encountered hearing disorder, he or she will be referred to an audiologist, although a hearing aid specialist may conduct the initial testing successfully.