At some point in life, approximately 10% of the general population will experience hearing loss – which is enough hearing loss to warrant or recommend hearing aids. As people get older, that number goes from 10% up to 30% or even 35%. So, the more people age, the more people are going to require some form of hearing aid. Knowing how to communicate with people with hearing loss is incredibly valuable information, especially considering many of us know or will know someone who is experiencing hearing loss.

It is important for friends and loved ones to understand that speaking very loudly or yelling at someone with hearing loss is not ideal. When people resort to yelling or speaking very loudly, it becomes difficult for them to use the muscles that also allow them to smile when they speak. Something this seemingly small often has a big impact on relationships, since the less people smile the more tension arises, and this in turn can cause the person with hearing loss to feel that people are angry or frustrated with them.

In many ways, hearing loss doesn’t only affect a person’s hearing, but their quality of life, even their relationships. Many people who experience hearing loss find that they lose the ability to hear soft sounds while becoming more sensitive to loud sounds, which can be difficult to explain outside of a hearing test. In addition, the tension that arises from having people yelling to communicate can reduce enjoyment of socialization, which can greatly reduce one’s quality of life.

When people are yelling to be heard or constantly having to speak very loudly, it is clearly time to encourage a friend or loved one to get a hearing test and, if necessary, get fit for a hearing aid. Making the decision to be proactive about hearing loss not only improves hearing, but improves the quality of life for people experiencing hearing loss as well as for their friends and family. When people can hear clearly, they no longer struggle with misunderstanding things, and they’re able to stay engaged in conversations and relationships, to keep up with the activities that they enjoy, and this greatly improves their quality of life.

When interacting with a person who is hard of hearing, it is also important to be conscientious about how we speak to them. To begin, make sure the person is looking at you and that you have their attention. You can do this by saying their name or positioning yourself in front of them. Once you see that they are focused on you, then proceed with your conversation, knowing that they are able to follow what you’re saying. Visual cues can also be very helpful when communicating with someone with hearing loss. Lip reading can help a person to more clearly understand, as can speaking at a slower pace and a lower tone, which is easier for most people to understand.

Some other tips to improve communication are to make sure competing sounds are reduced or removed altogether. This includes things like turning off the TV or radio when you’re trying to have a conversation with someone who is hard of hearing. These sorts of distractions make a conversation difficult for most people, and especially for people with hearing loss.

Perhaps the most important tip is to encourage a friend or loved one who appears to be experiencing hearing loss to get a hearing test and to consider a hearing aid. If left untreated, hearing loss tends to cause people to isolate themselves, and this can even cause strain in relationships. A family member or a friend can play a big role in supporting a loved one who is experiencing hearing loss. Helping them research the topic of hearing loss, offering moral support as well as practical support if they need assistance getting to appointments or learning how to use a new hearing aid can all ease the transition into life with hearing loss. Friends and loved ones can also serve as an advocate for the person experiencing hearing loss, as sometimes the person may need an extra hand in explaining their symptoms or recording information. The support of friends and family can make the journey through experiencing hearing loss much less isolating.

For more information on the Beltone Hearing Center, just request your free hearing test, or stop by one of our locations.

After the initial adjustment period, we usually recommend customers come in for routine maintenance, about every three months. On average, a routine maintenance visit takes only a few minutes. During this visit we will replace batteries, do a thorough cleaning, and make sure any issues are addressed to keep the hearing aid at an optimal performance level.

In addition to routine maintenance, Beltone representatives encourage customers to drop by one of our offices whenever they’d like their hearing aid adjusted or looked at, no appointment necessary!

We are always available to clean and test hearing aids and the process usually only takes a few minutes. Our door is always open to make sure customers are having the best experience possible with their hearing aids.

We also provide clients with free batteries for their hearing aids, so most people can usually go about three years before purchasing any batteries. This means that when customers come in for routine maintenance, they’re not paying for anything, since we consider replacing batteries part of our standard maintenance package. Our clients appreciate that they can bring their hearing aids in to one of our offices for a 10 or 15 minute visit, have a cup of coffee, talk with our staff, and leave with cleaned and serviced hearing aids, usually for no additional cost. This helps our clients streamline the care of their hearing aids into the flow of their busy lives.

If you purchase a Beltone hearing aid, we guarantee that your aids will be preset before you even arrive to pick them up. This will allow you to hit the ground running when you come in for your fitting. Whereas it used to take only about 15 minutes to fit a new set of hearing aids, it now takes around an hour, depending on the hearing aid. Because technology is so advanced and sophisticated, and there are so many little tweaks, filters, and settings to adjust to a person’s individual needs, the actual fitting does take a bit longer than in previous times. However, the result is a hearing aid or set of hearing aids that are customized so you can experience the optimal personal benefits of your hearing aids.

When we do a fitting, we are looking to make sure that the hearing aids feel comfortable in your ears, that they sound clear, and that voices sound as natural as possible. We also check for loudness tolerances. For example, we make sure that if someone drops a plate or some keys on the table, it doesn’t make the person wearing the hearing aid jump out of their skin. We also make sure that new hearing aids fit properly, that they sound right, and that the settings are appropriate for each person’s needs. We make sure that customers know how to work any controls that may be on the hearing aid, and we review necessary cautions. In fact, we go through the entire manual with each person, making sure they know how to find the information they want in the manual should they have questions, and how to get a hold of us if they have questions beyond what is available in the manual. We also practice putting the hearing aids on, taking them off, and demonstrating how to clean them and reviewing basic care steps. This way, our customers know what to expect when taking care of their hearing aids at home.

We know that there is a lot of information to process with the purchase of a new hearing aid, and we want our customers to feel 100% comfortable with their hearing aid. We pride ourselves on customer service, and there are always representatives available to help with any questions or concerns that customers may have. We also make sure to schedule a follow-up appointment for new users, so we can check in to see how they are doing and trouble shoot any issues they may be having. Because a hearing aid is an electronic device, there is a degree of maintenance involved in keeping it working at an optimal level. We make sure that our customers have the tools and information they need to be successful with their new hearing aid, and we also provide them with all of our contact information so they can reach a Beltone representative if they have any questions or concerns.

The process of adapting to a new hearing aid can take some time, usually about six weeks. Initially people may be concerned that the aid is going to make sounds too loud, that they won’t be able to hear people talking to them, or that it will negatively impact their quality of life. Once the acclimation period has concluded and adjustments have been made through follow-up visits, most people have great success with their new hearing aids. While hearing aid users may not have the exact same hearing experience as they once did, we strive to help our customers feel confident and comfortable using a hearing aid as part of their daily life.

For more information on the Beltone Hearing Center, just request your free hearing test, or stop by one of our locations.

Now more than ever, consumers have a wide variety of options when it comes to purchasing a hearing aid model. For some people, ease of use is their primary concern. For others, discrete appearance is important. Yet for everyone, excellent functionality is imperative, and today we can recommend models that are tailored to an individual’s needs.

Once a hearing aid has been purchased, the next step is maintaining its quality through servicing and upkeep. When considering ease of servicing, the easiest models to service are often the behind-the-ear models, because they’re built in a modular fashion. In the same way that furniture is modular, in the sense that you can add a piece on or take a piece off, hearing aids are built – at least the behind-the-ear hearing aids – are built in that fashion today. This modular construction allows for servicing of the hearing aid to be done, often times, on the spot while the customers waits. Whereas years ago hearing aids would need to be sent away even for the slightest problem, today there is so much servicing that can be done in an office or shop. This allows distributors to provide the best service possible without making clients wait. Distributors can often interchange parts, change colors, and make necessary repairs in a few minutes so customers can have their hearing aids working like new without being inconvenienced.

When considering a hearing aid model, once you’ve made sure that the dexterity and functionality is accurate, and that the color and style are to your liking, considering the ease of serviceability is also important. In fact, many of today’s hearing aid customers are responding to that. They like knowing that their model can be repaired locally, often in a few minutes.

Purchasing a hearing aid is also a financial investment, and Beltone prides itself on offering a selection of top-quality models to meet every budget, from basic models to the most sophisticated products on today’s market. Whatever model a customer wants, we will ensure they are receiving the most competitive price available.

To help our customers purchase the hearing aid they truly want, we have several programs designed to make hearing aids affordable for everyone, including a rental program. Customers can rent a hearing aid by the week, by the month, or by the year – and Beltone’s long-term rental programs begin at as little as $39 a month. Depending on a customer’s needs, long-term rentals can offer them the model they want to use at a price they can afford.

Additionally, Beltone sells factory reconditioned hearing aids, which range in price from $600 to $2,000, depending on the level of technology. For customers looking to purchase a brand new hearing aid, models start at as little as $1,100 up to $2,500 or $3,000 each. However, depending on what your budget is and what your needs are, there are lots of options available, including payment plans and service programs, that will allow you to get the level of technology or the type of hearing aid you want within your budget.

For more information on the Beltone Hearing Center, just request your free hearing test, or stop by one of our locations.

Because of this, when a person delays getting a hearing aid for a long time, it can negatively affect their relationships with the people around them. At Beltone, we see people brought in all the time by a son, daughter, or spouse who is having trouble communicating with them. A hearing aid doesn’t just help you hear sounds that you didn’t hear before. It helps you communicate more effectively and personally with the people that you care about.

It’s a little-known fact that smiling and raising your voice at the same time is very difficult, because of the muscles involved. If you have to speak loudly to a person and keep repeating yourself to be heard, it’s not only frustrating, but physically difficult and trying on your patience, which makes it harder to smile.

A person that has hearing loss and ignores it, thinking that other people can deal with it, may not realize how hard it is for others. People want to enjoy their interactions with each other, and when they communicate, they are showing that they care. If they always have to repeat themselves and put extra effort into a conversation, this makes communicating hard for them to enjoy. A hearing aid may be worn by the person that needs it, but it really affects all of the people around them, improving their relationships in all areas of life. Restoring important relationships with people that you care about by getting a simple thing like a hearing test and a hearing aid can make all the difference in the world.

One of the big side effects of untreated hearing loss is depression. People that let hearing loss go untreated for a long time often start to withdraw from situations, thinking that they’d rather not go to a place because there’s too much noise and they can’t hear anyone talking anyway. That feeling can really wear them down, leading to isolation and depression, and generally affecting their psychological health. Sometimes a person misses things that they’re not even aware that they’re missing. Somebody may be calling them from another room or the phone rings in another part of the house and they don’t hear it, and this creates a feeling of loneliness that could easily be prevented.

With vision problems, a person can tell that things look foggy, but if a person can’t hear a sound, especially if it comes from their general environment or isn’t right in front of them, they might not know that it was there in the first place. Environmental sound is crucial to our perceptions of life, but we often don’t realize it. This can even lead to safety issues. Sounds like a car coming up behind you, a fire alarm going off, or a knock at the door can be crucial, and not hearing these things can be a significant concern.

There are important things that family members and friends can do to help a person with hearing loss. One is, of course, to encourage them to look into getting a hearing aid. This is often more effective if it’s not confrontational. Sometimes people ask the person if they would like to go together to both get a hearing test, which makes it a group thing and feels less intimidating.

Even outside getting a hearing aid, there are things that family members and friends can do to help a person with hearing loss. For example, before speaking to them, you can get their attention by first calling their name, and once you have their attention, saying what you have to say. Once the person hears this cue, they will know that that you are trying to communicate with them and can focus and pay attention and look in your direction, which will help them hear you a lot better. At Beltone, we know many little tricks like this that allow families and friends to help a person with hearing loss or hearing impairment communicate better.

We also strongly encourage family members and friends to get involved in hearing health rehabilitation, helping their family member or friend to choose the right hearing aid, to use and successfully adapt to it, and to move into a new way of hearing. We love when family members come in to Beltone, whether they are a spouse, a child, or even a grandchild. People benefit from having someone who really cares about them and can be patient with them while they’re going through this difficult time, and who can encourage them, make the experience less intimidating, and help them to see the importance of the process involved.

Beyond this, when family members come in, it often helps us to learn a little bit about the personality of the person with the hearing loss, who might have been a bit quieter if they had come in by themselves. Seeing family interacting with each other helps us to learn some of their humor and the things that they talk about, which allows us to better understand how to help them and communicate with them through their counseling and rehabilitation process.

Helping with hearing problems is about leading a healthy lifestyle. When a person has untreated hearing loss and they’re starting to withdraw, what we look for is clear signs. Some people decide to stop doing something that they used to love. In these cases, it is important to know whether the change was a choice or came out of frustration. Our lives evolve as we get older, and our interests change, which is fine, but when we stop doing things that we really enjoy doing because we can’t hear properly, its time to get help.

If you or someone you care about is in need of that help, why request a free hearing test or come visit one of our centres?

Please also feel free to share this blog with someone who could benefit from this information by sending it to them. If you like what we are doing, have questions, or want to tell us what you think about our blog, just leave a reply below.

“Test driving” hearing aids is a major feature of Beltone’s business, because the last thing that we want is for customers to feel like they’ve bought a hearing aid without knowing everything possible about it. A set of good hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars, which means that people need to know exactly what they are getting before they buy one. For that reason, we’ve invested heavily in our demo or trial program.

Some people have had a hearing test, have been encouraged by their spouse or family members to get a hearing aid, and know that they need one, but do not know what kind they want or what level of technology they really need. Beltone will fit them with a demo set of loaner hearing aids, using the regular process involved in buying a brand new set. Customers are then allowed to take them home and get an idea of how they would feel if they bought them.

Being able to use a trial set of hearing aids lets a person know how they work in a familiar environment, whether at home, at church, at a sporting event, in a business meeting with clients, or at a favourite restaurant. It is impossible to test out a hearing aid in an unfamiliar room or office and know how it will work in a more familiar situation. That’s why Beltone has invested tens of thousands of dollars in demonstration hearing aids that people can take home.

Through this program, customers can try out hearing aids in their own environments and then come back to have them fine-tuned when something sounds unusual or is louder than they hoped. Sometimes people find that volumes are too quiet or that their hearing aid doesn’t filter a sound in the way that they thought it would. Beltone can then customize their experience and make sure that before they make a major investment, they have a hearing aid that offers exactly what works best for them. People need to know whether the hearing aid that fits in with their budget works as well as they expected. They typically come back in a couple of weeks after their initial fitting for a follow-up, and, after having the adjustments that they need made, try out the new setup for another couple of weeks.

A properly fitted hearing aid, for a person that has reasonable expectations of what it will do, will not only make the person feel very natural, but allow them to hear better than a person with normal hearing could, which is a great feeling for someone who’s suffered for years with hearing loss and has finally made the decision to deal with it.

If you are interested in trying out Beltone’s demo program or would just like more information on how it works, visit AskBeltone.com, or come in and have a talk with the specialists at our centres. If you know someone who you think could really use the information in this blog, please send them a link and let them know about what we can do for them.

All hearing aids basically work like sound systems. They use an input source, which is like a normal microphone used to give a talk or a performance. The sound that goes into that microphone is sent to a box that manages the sound and tries to get rid of any feedback or noise. That box then sends the sound to speakers that an audience can hear. A hearing aid is a miniature version, personalized to fit a person’s hearing loss by using the right kinds of filters, so that the sounds that it passes on are clear and pleasant to the ear.

The biggest thing right now in hearing aids is dual-microphone or multiple-microphone technology. This typically involves two microphones that are aligned so that one will pick up sound all around the wearer and the other will pick up sound from behind the wearer. Once these signals come through both microphones, the computer inside the hearing aid manipulates and adjusts them, cancelling out some of the signal from the back microphone in the front microphone. In effect, this reduces what is called background noise, and allows the hearing aid to put more comfortable and less distracting sounds into a person’s ear, so that they can focus more on the person or thing that they’re looking at.

Sometimes group situations, especially those with family or friends, involve a lot of sound activity. People are everywhere, but those that the hearing aid user wants to listen to are usually in front of them. Dual microphones help to focus on the sound signals coming from the place that a person is facing. This is a big change from the past, when people wearing hearing aids had trouble hearing the person in front of them because of people talking, doing dishes, or making other distracting noises in the background.

Hearing aids have developed over the years, and now do a tremendous job of managing background noise. In addition to reducing sounds that come from behind, they can limit noise in different ways, depending on the kind of sound and the situation. For example, if a person is having a conversation on their lawn with a friend and is facing the street, and a motorcycle passes by behind the friend, the hearing aid can follow the sound and reduce it as it moves so that it doesn’t interfere with the friend’s voice. Moving sounds can be manipulated and managed by the hearing aid to reduce them as needed while they move, which is a major development.

More advanced hearing aids will also change the amount of focus that they have, from a very wide, open focus to a very narrow, forward-facing one. Depending on the situation that a person is in, their hearing aid will have a setting that suits their needs, and may even choose the best setting by itself, based on the sounds around the person and how they change.

Modern hearing aids offer a lot of amazing possibilities, especially for devices that are so small. They fit easily in the ear and offer the most cutting-edge technology, with volumes and buttons and filters that make hearing so much more pleasant. The latest hearing aids use chips that are more powerful than the computer that sent the first space shuttles to the moon, which shows how far technology has come in a fairly short period of time.

If you want more information on hearing aids and the technology that they use, visit Beltone Hearing Centres in person, or online at AskBeltone.com, and remember to share this blog with anyone who could benefit by sending them the link.

Like other devices of all types, hearing aids now contain tiny computers. In fact, the computers used in hearing aids are the smallest that can be found in any common everyday item.

Incredible advancements have also been made in the microphones and other components used by hearing aids. Every time that a new hearing aid comes out, the technology moves forward in leaps and bounds.

One of the latest amazing developments is in the use of different kinds of noise filters. Simply put, noise filters reduce background noise and unwanted noise of different types. Today, noise filters are actually able to actually differentiate between conversational noise, like that of a crowded place, perhaps after church on Sunday or at a wedding or other party, and steady state noise or environmental noise, which is the noise from fans, air conditioners, traffic, and other similar sources. Hearing aids can now detect these different types of noise and treat them differently based on the environment and how they change.

Today’s noise filters have advanced significantly beyond what was possible a few years ago, which truly makes a difference. People want to reduce unwanted environmental noise as much as possible. If they complain about hearing aids, they typically complain about background noise. The better hearing aids will handle more different types and volumes of noise, automatically reacting to different situations where noise is commonly present and filtering them appropriately, which is one reason why Beltone focuses on better technology. Unfortunately, the more filtering that is done by the hearing aid, the higher the price. People, no matter what their budget is, expect the same amount of reduction of noise and the same amount of comfort in their hearing aid experience. Since this is only commonly available in better models, Beltone focuses on making these better models more accessible to more people, so that they can get the desired effect from their hearing aids.

One thing that most people who don’t use hearing aids are not aware of, but which is very obvious to anyone who has had hearing aids for some time, is that typically, putting a telephone up to a hearing aid causes the hearing aid to squeal. There are several ways to get around this problem and one is through technology that filters out the squeal, allowing the wearer to put the phone directly to a hearing aid without hearing it.

Another method uses telephone loops and other means that are built into the hearing aid to connect electromagnetically to phones, so that only the phone call is amplified, rather than other environmental sounds. Cell phones cannot do this, but a coil can be put into regular house phone, payphone, or office phone, and when the phone is put up to a hearing aid, it couples with the hearing aid to only amplify the person on the telephone. For people who have very severe hearing loss or are on the phone regularly for their job or to talk with family and friends, this can make a big difference.

A similar option that’s available in some hearing aids does not involve a coil, but uses similar filters that move the hearing aid into a telephone setting automatically when the user talks on the phone. This used to be something that could be done by pushing a button or flipping a switch, but now hearing aids can recognize that a phone is nearby and automatically switch themselves to a different setting, reducing squeal and using filters to control volume and other aspects that help a person hear more clearly. Talking on phones used to be a difficult situation for people with hearing aids, but technology has changed that in recent years.

As hearing aids are so small, technological developments that reduce the need for buttons and switches are ideal. At the same time, advances have been made that allow people who want to have control over their environment in specific situations to do so. Even in the smallest of hearing aids, which are not much bigger than the end of a person’s finger, there are technologies that make it possible to add on a button. However, with the more advanced technologies available today, people often end up finding that they don’t even need to use a button. As hearing aids can adjust themselves automatically to so many different situations, there are very few cases in which they don’t provide the most optimal sound for a person’s hearing loss.

Interested in finding out more about our hearing aids and how they put the best possible technologies to work? Please feel free to visit our centres or contact us at AskBeltone.com, and if you know someone who could benefit from this information, please send them the link to this blog.

Every hearing test starts with a series of beeps and tones. The beeps and tones are in different frequencies or pitches, with some low and deep and others high-pitched and squealing. People who listen to these tones hear more or fewer of them, depending on their ability. Their responses paint a picture of their general hearing ability.

Depending on the level of loss seen in the first test, two other tests can be used. One involves a secondary set of beeps and tones that is presented not directly to the ear, but behind the ear, through the skull, which encases our hearing system. By testing directly to the skull through the inner ear, we can find out whether there is a difference between hearing that way and hearing through the ear canal. If there is a significant difference, it could indicate that a person needs medical attention for an undiagnosed ear infection, or has wax or something blocking their hearing system, and needs attention. Tests like this allow us to ensure that a person gets the necessary medical attention and is only recommended a hearing aid if they actually need one.

We then do a verification test, which is fairly standard in our industry, asking the person to repeat certain words. Once or twice in thirteen years, we have had a person try to fake a test, for attention or some other reason, but that is truly an exception.

Most of our tests involve average to faint tones. We test for the softest sound that a person can hear, which establishes their hearing threshold. Another test that we do checks patients’ tolerance for loud sounds. In that test, we start with comfortable tones that get louder and louder, to measure the loudest sound that a person can reasonably tolerate, which is the ceiling of their hearing. Between the threshold and the ceiling lies a person’s range of hearing.

It is important for us to understand where this lies, especially if a person has enough hearing loss to require a hearing aid. We want to elevate the faint sounds that they have trouble with, but protect them from having the hearing aid over-amplify things.

A third series of tests that we do are speech-related and aim to find the most comfortable volume for a person and determine, at that volume, how well their ear understands words. If their ear does not transfer sound correctly to the brain, for example, the word “sixty” may sound like “fifty,” which can be a sore point in situations involving calculations or prices.

Once we determine a person’s range of hearing, their most comfortable level of hearing, and their ears’ ability to transmit messages to their brain, we have a strong picture of what their ability to hear will be with a hearing aid. We then have to consider their chances of success with a hearing aid, keeping in mind the challenges that they may face and considering the assistive devices, counselling, or advice that we can offer them to help them satisfy their communication needs.

While the above are our main tests, we use several others if red flags indicate something more serious might be happening, as some medical problems lead to hearing loss or unpredictable hearing, including worst case scenarios such as tumours. Additional tests could involve different types of tone or word testing, or tests that don’t require a person to respond. We also use equipment to check inside the ear, measuring things such as ear and eardrum response, to find out what’s going on from another angle.

In a full-spectrum test, a person might experience all or most of these evaluations, which would give us a very accurate picture of their hearing system, their hearing health, and the type of hearing aids that might be best for them.

When we test a person’s hearing, our greatest hope is that we will be surprised to find that the person hears normally. If a person does not have enough hearing loss to require a hearing aid, we are happy to be the first ones to tell them that.

We’re not in the business of selling things that people don’t need. We want to help you find a solution that will meet your needs and allow you to fully communicate and interact normally in your environment. We hope to help you do the things that you want to do and go the places that you want to go, and to enjoy life again.

If you want to know more about Beltone Hearing Centres and how we can help you, visit www.askbeltone.com. As always, please feel free to share this information with those who could benefit from it.

We do many different types of hearing tests, depending on a person’s needs. People come to us for very different reasons. Some come because they need to verify their hearing for a pre-employment job application, or for insurance purposes, such as a follow-up on the effects of an accident.

Some people come in because their wife or husband tells them that they have trouble hearing, which they want to prove is wrong. We encourage family members to come in together so that we can educate them on hearing health and hearing loss, and on improving communication, especially if one spouse is between normal hearing and hearing loss. There are things we can do to help them communicate.

Some people have already had a hearing aid or have been putting off getting a hearing aid for a long time.

We use a number of different tests on the people that we see. We have a sort of true-false test that we don’t use as part of an official assessment, but that I personally use when I first see people. I play certain tones that can be heard by people with normal hearing. Those who cannot hear a certain tone have hearing loss at that tone, pre-indicating whether or not they have significant hearing loss. This takes 30 seconds to a minute per ear, and helps to initially evaluate where a person stands, before we move into a more detailed test.

We focus on what a patient wants and needs more than anything. If a person is just curious about their hearing health, we perform a simple test to determine whether they have hearing loss, which takes only 15 minutes once we get into the testing environment. If we find out that you have hearing loss, it is up to you to decide whether you want to do anything about it.

Not everyone is ready to deal with hearing loss. This can be for different reasons, such as budget, lifestyle, or the stigma that some people feel comes with wearing a hearing aid. We don’t make a person who is just curious sit through an hour and a half long test just to find out that they do not want the hearing aids that they need. We do a lot of quick screen tests just to find out where people are, in terms of their hearing.

If people want to move forward by demoing a hearing aid or buying one, we put them through a more rigorous test, which allows us to gain the information that we need to properly assess their hearing situation and recommend the best possible hearing aids. This could take 15 minutes or last an hour and a half. Some people may even need as much as two and a half hours of testing. We don’t try to fit everyone into the same box. We try to focus on what a patient needs, evaluate that, and work to satisfy their expectations.

Many people think a hearing test is just walking into a soundproof room with a set of headphones. As I mentioned in a previous blog, we start with building a person’s thorough case history. Then, there are certain regulations that determine what a proper testing environment is. We make sure that our environments exceed those standards wherever possible. Other companies’ testing environments may look the same as ours, but if they haven’t rigorously renovated to meet the latest requirements, they are not the same, and their tests will not have the same accuracy that ours do.

We have spent a lot of money to make our environment exceed standards and offer real comfort. You won’t find a tiny little fridge-like booth where you feel claustrophobic, uncomfortable, and eager to get out and get some fresh air. We offer the same accuracy and standardization that our best competitors provide in a tiny booth, but in an environment that impresses most visitors with its level of comfort. This allows people to focus on the tests that will help us determine the best solution for them.

If you are interested in checking out our hearing test and environment, feel free to let us know by visiting us in person or going to www.askbeltone.com, and if you know someone who might benefit from the information in this blog, please share it.