Hearing aids work by enhancing the sounds around you to make them louder and clearer. There are three main parts in a hearing aid – a microphone, amplifier, and speaker.

Sound waves are picked up by the microphone, which then converts them to electrical signals and then sends them on to the amplifier. The amplifier strengthens the signals and increases the volume.

Your hearing aids have been programmed to meet your individual hearing needs. When you remove your hearing aids, you might feel your natural hearing is muffled, but that’s just because you’ve become more used to hearing things clearly with them in. If you wear them a little every day, you’ll soon get used to having them in your ears – even if it does take a week or two.

To get maximum benefits from your aids, please read the manufacturers guide that comes with them. Following your hearing aid fitting, you’ll get a follow-up appointment, so it’s useful to take down any experiences you’ve had adjusting to them.

• Start with quieter, more familiar situations – like conversations with one person or listening to the radio – then move onto more challenging ones.
• When you start holding conversations with multiple people, or going to busy, outdoor environments, you might find new noises daunting or hard to follow. This will change as your brain adapts to the increase in noise.

• Make sure you understand your hearing aid’s settings and programmes so you can tweak them to achieve the best possible results.
• And remember, your hearing care professional is always happy to help you, so if you want any advice, or have any questions, just ask.

• Hearing loop systems are installed in busy or difficult listening situations, like cinemas and public buildings, to help you hear more clearly.
• Modern hearing aids are designed to pick up sound from loop systems and some telephones also have an available loop service.

• Remember to turn your hearing aids back to a normal programme mode when you’re out of range from a loop service.

A hearing aid dome is the small plastic piece of your hearing aid that goes in the ear, typically made of silicone.

A proper fitting dome can make a huge difference in both comfort and quality whilst wearing your hearing aid. So if yours ever feel uncomfortable or you have any issues with their fitting, pop in to see one of our audiologists and we can sort it out for you.

There are two types:

Open Style

• Allows sound to pass through.
• Helps to stop what’s called the occlusion effect – which creates a similar hollow-like sound as if you’ve put your fingers in your ears while talking.
• Still receives some sound through the ear, so can sound more natural for some people.

Closed Style

• Reduces sound from outside the hearing aid to further boost the sound level.
• Often better for people suffering for a more severe level of hearing loss.