The time is now to hear better
Hearing Aids
Bluetooth Hearing Aids
Serving Vancouver WA And The Surrounding Areas
When selecting your new hearing aids, there are so many things to consider that you might begin to feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, Evergreen Audiology is here to guide you through the decision-making journey from start to finish.
Questions about Hearing AIds?
Give us a call to recieve answers to all of your hearing aid questions.
(360) 892-3445Hearing Aids- Process
We are committed to helping you find the hearing technology that is sure to bring the greatest benefit to your life, and there are several key factors that we will take into account in this process including:
- What your level of hearing loss is: a hearing test will give us useful insight into whether your loss is mild, moderate, severe or profound, and this will help us determine the best course of treatment
- What your aesthetic preferences are: are you comfortable with a hearing aid that is somewhat visible in the ear, or do you want something completely discreet? Keeping your comfort and personal tastes in mind, we will help you select the style that makes you feel your best.
- What your hearing lifestyle is: the type of activities that you take part in on a daily basis are an important consideration in choosing your hearing aids. We will ask you questions to find out if your hearing lifestyle is:
- Quiet: adult conversations, small gatherings, driving, quiet restaurants, religious services, a home telephone, etc.
- Active: shopping, group meetings, the theater, conversations with children, exercising, a cell phone, etc.
- Dynamic: busy restaurants, frequent social gatherings, entertainment venues, travel, group presentations, etc.
- What your budget is: we’ll work with you to find hearing aids that fit within your budgetary requirements
Styles of Hearing Aids
Now that you know a bit more about the hearing aid selection process, here is a brief overview of hearing aid styles and features available.
Bluetooth Hearing Aids
Bluetooth hearing aids connect wirelessly to electronic devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and televisions, allowing you to enjoy crisp, unadulterated sound right from your digital devices.Invisible-In-Canal Hearing Aids
The tiniest and most discreet hearing aid option, these devices fit all the way inside your ear canal and are custom molded. For a majority of people, these are completely invisible to others.Completely-In-Canal Hearing Aids
Another great discreet hearing aid option, these devices are also custom molded and fit completely inside your ear canal. While not completely invisible, CICs are subtle enough for most people and often feature a button which allows you to change the program/memory/or volume manually, as well as a tiny handle for easy removal.In-The-Canal Hearing Aids
Still discreet but a bit larger and easier to handle, an In-The-Canal hearing aid sits mostly inside the ear canal while a smaller portion of the device sits in the outer ear and is subtly visible.Receiver-In-Canal Hearing Aids
The body of this type of hearing aid sits behind the outer ear, while a small, comfortable earbud-like receiver sits inside the ear canal without sealing it. The body of the hearing aid (which houses the technology) and the earbud portion are connected by a very thin, subtle wire.Behind-The-Ear Hearing Aids
These hearing aids are quite similar to RIC models, with the key difference being that Behind-The-Ear styles make use of a plastic tubing to connect the body of the hearing aid to the receiver.Features of Hearing Aids
Thanks to a flurry of technological innovation in recent years, there is now an abundance of features which can help to reduce listening effort and make daily life more seamless for hearing aid wearers. Here are some of the most common and in-demand features on the market today.
- Speech Understanding: How will my new hearing aids help me to understand conversation more easily in the presence of background noise? This is one of the most important questions to ask yourself and your hearing healthcare provider when considering different devices. Every hearing aid will include features which assist with speech understanding, yet they may differ in the technology they use to achieve this goal. Some devices have even been designed to work more naturally with the sound processing center of the brain to reduce listening effort.
- Direct Connectivity Many hearing aid wearers today want devices that can make their lives easier by multi-tasking, much the same way that their smartphones do. Fortunately, there is a wide variety of hearing aid models that can wirelessly connect to other devices so that wearers can stream music, watch TV or answer phone calls, all through their hearing aids. This is often achieved through Bluetooth technology, special connectivity devices, or technology within the hearing aid itself.
- Rechargable Batteries: Growing in popularity in recent years, rechargeability is an excellent feature which offers improved ease-of-use for those who don’t want to fuss with changing hearing aid batteries, or users with dexterity issues. The majority of manufacturers offer one or more options for rechargeable hearing aids, which can be charged while you sleep and provide 24 (or more!) hours of wear-time.
- Tinnitus Therapy Tinnitus--a ringing or buzzing in the ears with no external source--is a very common secondary health issue for those with hearing loss. To help address this complaint, many digital hearing aids today feature tinnitus therapy programs which help to mask the sounds so that wearers can feel at ease.