A commonly marketed hearing aid feature is hearing aid programs. A hearing aid program is a preset hearing profile that allows you greater control of your hearing in different situations. These programs are sometimes referred to as hearing aid memories, and we will refer to this feature as both programs and memories.
With hearing aid programs, you can more successfully navigate different listening environments and more completely utilize your hearing aids. Our hearing instrument specialists want to ensure that everyone understands how useful hearing aid memories are, so you are fully informed when you are ready to choose your hearing aids.
What Are Hearing Aid Programs/Memories?
To help explain what hearing aid programs are, take this example: Say that you have a car radio. Sure, you can keep hitting the scan button and eventually find the right frequency, but what happens if you want to switch from classical music to a rock channel? Your back to hitting the scanning function, attempting to find the right frequency.
But, lucky for you, car radios come with preset channel buttons. You can set your preferred channel to the different buttons. Hearing aid programs work on a similar basis.
With hearing aid programs, instead of just adjusting the volume of your hearing aids up and down, you can switch between different listening settings, usually with the push of a button. These settings may:
- Change your hearing aid microphone directionality.
- Alter the frequency range of the hearing aids so that they pick up more high-frequency or low-frequency sounds.
- Adjust the sound gains of your hearing aids.
By making these adjustments with preset programs, you can more comfortably move from different environments, such as going from your quieter home to a noisy restaurant.
How Are Hearing Aid Programs Set?
After you have had a hearing evaluation by one of our hearing health care specialists and are being fitted with your new hearing aids, that is when your hearing aid programs are usually set.
Our hearing instrument specialists will perform real-ear measurements, which allows them to observe how well your hearing aids are supplying sound to your ear. With this insight, our specialists can fine-tune various programs to help you in different settings.
Once the programs are set up, our hearing health care professionals can show you how to access your hearing aid programs.
Benefits Of Hearing Aid Programs
There are two main benefits to using hearing aid programs, and they can have a lasting impact on your hearing aid enjoyment.
Skip Fumbling With Controls
Rather than try and adjust your hearing aids by spinning the volume wheel on your hearing aids, you can change listening programs with the press of a button. If you have ever had to adjust the volume on your hearing aids and needed to spend a few uncomfortable moments finding the best setting, you can see how hearing aid memories can ease this discomfort.
Feel Greater Comfort In Different Environments
Most individuals who have intact hearing take it for granted that their auditory system automatically adjusts to their hearing environment. But hearing aid users need to take steps to ensure that they don’t become overwhelmed when going from the car into a noisy shopping center or lecture hall.
By using hearing aid programs, users can quickly switch how their hearing devices are receiving sound.
For instance, say you were out on a nature walk and set your hearing aids to a broader listening program, but you are meeting up with friends at a cafe right after your walk. You can change your hearing aids from the broad, receptive omnidirectional microphones used while enjoying a nature walk, and switch hearing aid programs to directional microphones and proper settings that work well for you in restaurant environments.
How You Can Use Different Hearing Aid Memories
Now, we have inferred that hearing aid programs can be altered by pushing a button on your hearing aids. While this type of program switching may be true for some hearing aids, there are multiple ways that your hearing aids programs can be accessed.
- Manual button – Some hearing aids come with a small button that you can press to shuffle through the different programs.
- Automatic – A variety of hearing aids will now swap automatically between different listening programs. The hearing aids can sample the acoustics of the area you enter and assess if they need to cycle to another program.
- Geotagged automatic – With some hearing aids, they come with the ability to geotag a specific area with a listening program. For instance, you can geotag your home with a customized program so that your hearing aids automatically change to that program when you enter the tagged area.
- Smartphone app – For more fine control over your programs, but more convenient than pushing a button, some hearing aids come with a smartphone app to allow you to change programs. You can scroll through pre-made programs, adjust settings, and in many of these app-controlled programs, create custom listening memories.
- Hearing instrument specialist – If you would like your hearing aid programs altered, you can always work with one of our hearing instrument specialists. After they reprogram your hearing aid memories, you should be able to switch between them on your own.
Depending on the style and brand of hearing aids you have, you should be able to use one of these methods to switch between different hearing aid memories.
Where To Find Hearing Aids With Listening Programs
If you are interested in purchasing hearing aids that have listening programs, you can count on Hearing Associates of Las Vegas. Our hearing instrument specialists can help you learn more about what hearing aids have the hearing aid programs you want or the kind of memories programming that suits you best.
To work with our hearing instrument specialists concerning your hearing aid programs, please contact us to set up your appointment. We are ready to help you with all your hearing needs!
info@hearingassociateslv.com
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