How to Choose a Hearing Care Provider You Can Trust to Deliver the Professional Care Needed to Bring and Maintain Your Hearing Potential:
When choosing a hearing care provider, you’ll want to find a reputable professional you can trust to deliver a total hearing healthcare package, not just hearing aids. Even the best hearing aids can’t completely restore normal hearing or eliminate all background noise. But some dishonest companies make all kinds of claims without the proof to back them up. Avoid companies that make large claims that sound too good to be true because it usually is.
The practitioner can be either an Audiologist or Hearing Aid Specialist. Both have the ability to follow “Best Practices” but whether or not they do is the problem.
We have developed a ‘Best Practice Certification’ that will vet a practitioner in your area to ensure that the practitioner is following Best Practice guidelines. ‘BP Certification’ is an easy way to find a competent local practitioner no matter what credentials the individual may hold or what manufacturer they work with.
When Choosing a Provider For a Hearing Aid Keep All This in Mind:
- Professional Cleaning is Critical: Your hearing aid will be in your ear for 10-16 hours a day. The environment inside your ear is 98 degrees and reaches nearly 100% humidity. Hearing aids are electronic devices that are sensitive to moisture, and moisture will plug up ports where sound goes into and out of the device. Most devices will completely plug-up in 6 months of use without professional cleaning.
- Hearing Preferences Change: Over time, your hearing preferences will change, especially in the beginning stages of getting used to amplification. Professional fine tuning of your device will result in much higher satisfaction.
- Hearing Loss Changes Over Time: Your degree of hearing loss can change over time, and your device needs to be updated according to current hearing test results. Verification of your hearing aid’s performance will ensure the greatest long-term benefit.
- The Science of Sound is Complex: Most importantly, the physics of sound is a very complicated process. The ability of a competent practitioner to apply these principles to your individual needs is key to success with amplification. Family support is also key, and a competent practitioner will also provide information to family members, including communication strategies and setting realistic expectations based on severity of hearing loss.
Practitioners that follow these guidelines are following ‘Best Practice’ principles.