Hearing Aid Fitting

Are you one of those people who keep their hearing aids in a dresser drawer?  Do you wear them but complain about the sound quality?  Let us help you!  Here are some possible causes and solutions for hearing aid dissatisfaction:

• Improper programming.  We believe when you purchase hearing aids, success is 50 % technology and 50% programming of the devices.  At Pacific Hearing Service we believe in hearing aid verification.  This means we perform real ear measures on EVERYONE we fit with hearing aids. (Click here for a description of real ear measurements. This can be a link to our service page which talks about real ear.)  Every ear is different and by taking these measurements, we can ensure your hearing aids have been programmed to provide the best hearing possible. Programming your hearing aids also provides information that allows us to troubleshoot any problems that may arise.  
• Hearing aid validation:  It’s also important to validate that the hearing aids are meeting your hearing needs.  During your first year of wearing new hearing aids purchased from us, we schedule complimentary routine follow up visits to check with you and make sure you are satisfied. We also use a modified Client Oriented Scale of Improvement (COSI) to validate hearing aid performance.
• Is your brain ready to hear?  Adapting to hearing aid amplification can be challenging for many people. Research has given us great insight as to why.  Much of it is related to training your brain! We offer the LACE (click here for a link to the LACE website) program to all of our patients.  LACE stands for Listening and Communication Enhancement.  We are proud to say we were invited to participate in the beta testing of this program when it was being developed at UCSF and know from our early experience with LACE what a difference a little brain training can make! (Picture of a brain?)
• Realistic Expectations:  Many people expect hearing aids to perform miracles and restore their hearing back to normal.  Although hearing aid technology has reached heights we never dreamed of just a few years ago, they can’t restore the impaired ear to normal function.  Hearing loss is complicated and success with hearing aids is often related to the type or degree of hearing loss you have.  Because of this, we instituted a series of rehabilitation classes focused on managing your hearing loss and understanding what hearing aids can and cannot do. Please check our class schedule (link to class schedule on website.) and join us at either of our two locations for these classes.