Technology has done
a wonderful job of changing
the lives of people with hearing
loss.
There are tons of devices
out there for people who have
hearing loss, including hearing
aids and cochlear implants.
There's also assistive listening
devices.
Technology is much easier
than it used to be to wear.
Hearing aids have advanced a lot
over the years,
not only in the appearance,
but especially the electronics
inside and what they do to help
you hear better.
And when digital took over,
we were really able to do lots
of manipulation to the sound
in order to really tailor-make
the devices for an individual's
hearing loss,
even if that meant that you were
hearing differently in each ear.
The hearing aids are now
designed to automatically detect
where the strongest sound is
and funnel
the sound into your hearing aids
to try to magnify and improve
how you're understanding speech.
We live in a noisy world.
You shouldn't have to change
where you sit in order
to be able to enjoy
a conversation.
Rechargeable hearing aids allow
the users to never have to take
a hearing aid battery out
of a hearing aid or open them up
to turn them off.
Sometimes hearing aids are not
quite enough, and there's
other tools that we can add
to it to help make communication
easier.
A sound amplification device
is a device designed to pick up
voices or other sounds
in the environment
and amplify them in a person's
ear.
A hearing loop is an induction
system that is built into a room
or in a car that allows
the audio to communicate
with another induction
loop in a person's hearing aid
or hearing device.
There are signalers that can
indicate when someone's
at your door.
There are amplified fire alarms.
Some of those other tools
that we have to help us along
with hearing aids include having
Bluetooth connection with cell
phones, with televisions,
with any audio device that has
Bluetooth capability.
It's pretty remarkable the tools
we have available to help us
hear.
The more educated our patients
are, the better their journey
is to improving their hearing.
There's no cause to be scared
of what the possibilities are.
Give it a try.
You'd be quite surprised
as to what you'll find
on the other end of it.
You have one shot at life.
Live it to the fullest.