It’s a beautiful day, let’s go out….
Picture this. The temperature is 25°C, the sun is shining, there’s a gentle breeze & there’s not a cloud in the sky. It’s a beautiful day to join your friends for a picnic at a park. Oops, before you walk out the door, have you got your hearing aid?
Oh, did I forget to mention it’s the year 1800 & the cumbersome trumpet hearing aid which funnels sound through a narrow tube into your ear is the latest technology to help with hearing difficulties? It didn’t help much with amplification of sound but was able to funnel some sound to your ear.
Not exactly easy to hold to your ear while carrying a picnic basket, a rug, a chair and a Frisbee.
Or possibly is it the year 1898 and Miller Reese Hutchison has created the first electrical hearing aid called the “akouphone (acousticon)”. This was worn over your head like a headband and plugged into a battery which was the size of a tall cigar box.
Let’s jump forward a number of years to the early 1980’s where your hearing aid comes with a transistor that you wear & it’s held to you by shoulder & chest straps. It’s connected to the ear piece of your hearing aid via a wire. Oh no, it sometimes has problems with static interference when you laughed or smiled. I hope no-one’s telling any funny jokes at the picnic!
Fast forward as I bring you back to the reality that you are living in the year 2019. Hearing aids have evolved, improved and shrunk in size incredibly over the years! Some are now so small and discrete they fit on the tip of your finger. There’s a variety of options available including:
Behind The Ear and In-the-Ear Hearing Aids
“Invisible” Hearing Aids That Can Be Worn 24 Hours a Day!
They’re positioned in your ear by a qualified clinician and are very discrete.
Like the line from an old TV ad – but wait there’s more!
Hearing aids have so many additional features available now that hasn’t been an option in years gone by.
You have options that can connect to your smartphone allowing for hands-free phone calls or listening to music, e-books, podcasts and more. They can also connect to your TV!
Imagine when you go to the movies or you visit some public buildings and you can access a teleloop system which sends out wireless sound that’s received by the telecoil in your hearing aid. Wow, that’s a lot easier than the original trumpet hearing aid in the 1800’s!
So back to where we started, hearing aids have improved so much over the years that you can now actively be involved and engaged in conversations and there’s no need to avoid going out or attending events due to hearing difficulties.
To find out what options may be suitable for your needs, call us at either our Norwood clinic on 8331 8047 or our Unley clinic on 7123 6161 to book an appointment with either Kelly, Pavel or Rhiannon our qualified and friendly clinicians.
