FAQ

The price of a hearing aid depends on the model, the size, the provisions, etc. The price is usually between 800 € and 1.500 € for each hearing aid in case of a digital device. Because of this, it will depend on the type of your hearing problem and the specific needs of your sense of hearing. The final price includes the device, the personalized earmold, a study of your hearing problem, calibration and verification of the prosthesis, the checkup, etc.

Digital hearing aids are more likely to obtain the highest number of amplification characteristics needed by a person, more clarity and less distortion of the sound. They are more able to distinguish speech in a noisy environment, they reduce beeping sounds, they function automatically with a distinguished amplification according to the received sound, and they improve the ability to understand speech. Thanks to them, we are able to hear the sounds of the nature, to distinguish lower sounds, to bear high sounds without being disturbed, to listen to music with a high quality sound, they even do make your own voice feel more pleasant and they consume less battery.

If you haven’t been using a hearing aid even knowing that you suffer from some kind of hearing loss, it will take you a longer time to progressively get your ear used to the level of noise of the environment we live in. If it has been a long time since you didn’t understand well the conversations, and you continue without using a hearing aid, you will probably lose auditory memory and maybe you will never again get to understand every word even after starting to use a hearing aid. A quick treatment to solve your hearing problem will shorten your adaptation period, and you will also obtain better results against your communication abilities. Furthermore, you will be able to wear a smaller hearing aid, which is basically invisible, as it is hidden inside the ear

The noise caused by a hearing aid is imperceptible for the patient.

Some patients complain about the noise they hear. These are usually environmental noises which the patient had been unable to perceive because of the hearing loss. Persons with a normal hearing sense are used to these noises, for what they don’t seem strange to them.

Sometimes, hearing aids emit a ringing sound that can be caused by excessive earwax in the ear canal or by an inexact adjustment of the earmold of the hearing aid. Anyway, your hearing aid specialist will solve your problem easily.

There is financial help for orthoprothesis (for hearing aids and earmolds) at a national level for hypoacusic patients aged 0-16, for people suffering from bilateral sensorineural hypoacusis, transmissive or mixed type, permanent, not being subject to other treatments, with a hearing loss over 40dB on the better ear (value obtained through the average of the 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz frequencies).

The sooner the better: even a baby of a few months of age can wear a hearing aid. It is essential to diagnose deafness during the first months of live, so that the child can have the possibility to develop correctly its communication and learning skills. The ideal would be to subject the child shortly after his birth to a screening-test (to check if he/she has a good hearing), in order to know the exact diagnosis and to start rehabilitation from the sixth month of live.

Deafness, also called hypoacusis, is a hearing disability caused by disease, infections or traumatisms, hereditary factors, a progressive degeneration of the sense of hearing because of aging or by a prolonged exposure to high-level noise.

The consumption of the batteries depends on the type of hearing aid and the hours a day you use it. The smallest battery that exists has a shorter life compared to the bigger ones of BTE (Behind The Ear aids). Every hearing aid uses a different type of battery.

It depends on how often you have to change them, on if you need one or two... but it is not that expensive taking into account what it does for you.

A prolonged exposition to high-level noise can cause permanent damage to the inner ear. Once the damage is done, there is no surgical way to reverse it, so even prevention is very important.

Audiotec will be pleased to inform you about the auditory protection that will fit you best according to your profession or needs. There is, for example, special protection for musicians, for motorcyclists, for people working at very noisy places (textile industry, aircraft pilots, etc.), that do protect the ear but do not restrict the communication abilities.

Mostly, hearing loss is due to the natural evolution of the hearing system, which is also called PRESBYACUSIS. Normally, it is originated as a consequence of a prolonged exposure to high-level noise, side-effects of some medicine or head injuries that can damage the hearing system.

The average duration is four to five years.

It will depend on how you care for the device, the environmental characteristics of where you keep it (humidity, dust, etc.).

The sensation you experience when using a hearing aid for the first time might seem a bit strange.

Sounds may appear different to how we are used to hear them. But this is a completely normal reaction.

Your hearing aid specialist will show you how to get adapted progressively.

The time you’ll need will depend on the type of your hearing loss and on how long you have suffered from it.

In some cases, there is a medical or surgical solution, such as for otosclerosis, tympanum perforation, otitis, etc. When there is no possible medical solution, the adaption of a hearing aid could solve all your problems. If you notice some difficulties at hearing, the best you could do would be to visit an ENT specialist who will explain you the solutions available.

No. It is normal to lose the sense of hearing gradually, no matter if you do or do not use hearing aids.

Furthermore, it is a fact that if hearing loss is not treated, it could cause the irreversible loss of speech- and language abilities.

Normally you will have to. But it will depend on your hearing loss. If you have difficulties at hearing when not wearing the hearing aids, you will not want to put them aside and surely you will get used to use them all day long.

To reject the existence of a problem is very usual. First, the person affected doesn’t even notice, since hearing loss does not show up all at once. When the symptoms become more evident, the person affected usually rejects the loss, blaming others for not understanding: “you’re speaking too quietly”, “you’re always murmuring”... Lastly, when he/she finally has accepted the loss, it’s habitual that he/she rejects to use a hearing aid, since for him/her there is no need to wear some kind of device. Hearing loss often causes irritability, depression or isolation. It is very important to help those people and to show them how they can increase their quality of live by recovering their sense of hearing.

If you are experiencing a hearing loss in both ears, the natural solution would be to use two hearing aids. Our brain is made to use both ears to hear, and therefore can only catalogue binaural hearing as natural.

The most usual is to raise the volume of the TV more than normally. Frequently, people with hearing loss also show difficulties following a conversation in noisy places (such as restaurants or parties) or by having a conversation on the telephone.