What Is Hearing Aid?

A Hearing Aid Is a device designed to improve hearing by making sound audible to a person with hearing loss. Hearing aids are classified as medical devices in most countries, and regulated by the respective regulations.

What Is Hearing Aid Used For?

Hearing aids can help improve hearing and speech especially in persons with sensorineural hearing loss (hearing loss in the inner ear due to damaged hair cells or a damaged hearing nerve).

What Types Of Hearing Aids?

Hearing aids work differently depending on the electronics used. The two main types of electronics are analog and digital.

Analog aids convert sound waves into electrical signals, which are amplified. Analog/adjustable hearing aids are custom built to meet the needs of each user. The aid is programmed by the manufacturer according to the specifications recommended by your audiologist. Analog/programmable hearing aids have more than one program or setting. An audiologist can program the aid using a computer, and you can change the program for different listening environments from a small, quiet room to a crowded restaurant to large, open areas, such as a theater or stadium. Analog/programmable circuitry can be used in all types of hearing aids. Analog aids usually are less expensive than digital aids.

Digital aids convert sound waves into numerical codes, similar to the binary code of a computer, before amplifying them. Because the code also includes information about a sound’s pitch or loudness, the aid can be specially programmed to amplify some frequencies more than others. Digital circuitry gives an audiologist more flexibility in adjusting the aid to a user’s needs and to certain listening environments. These aids also can be programmed to focus on sounds coming from a specific direction. Digital circuitry can be used in all types of hearing aids.

How Can Hearing Aids Help?

Hearing aids are primarily useful in improving the hearing and speech comprehension of people who have hearing loss that results from damage to the small sensory cells in the inner ear, called hair cells. This type of hearing loss is called sensorineural hearing loss. The damage can occur as a result of disease, aging, or injury from noise or certain medicines.

A hearing aid magnifies sound vibrations entering the ear. Surviving hair cells detect the larger vibrations and convert them into neural signals that are passed along to the brain. The greater the damage to a person’s hair cells, the more severe the hearing loss, and the greater the hearing aid amplification needed to make up the difference. However, there are practical limits to the amount of amplification a hearing aid can provide. In addition, if the inner ear is too damaged, even large vibrations will not be converted into neural signals. In this situation, a hearing aid would be ineffective.

Is Hearing Aid Necessary?

If your hearing test shows hearing loss, yes. While it can be hard to accept that you need hearing aids, going without them increases your risk for a host of social and medical problems, including isolation, cognitive decline and depression.

Benefits of Hearing Aids

Hearing aids relieve the strain of hearing. With the newer digital technology available, hearing aids also offer more clarity (less strain and more clear hearing). 

Improved ease in listening environments (watching television, one-on-one conversations). Sounds like clocks ticking, refrigerators, computer noise, and footsteps will seem abnormally loud when first wearing hearing aids. This is normal. Your ability to tune out these insignificant sounds will improve as your brain adjust to hearing these soft sounds.

Less interference from a moderate amount of background noise. Loud background noise is still going to create a difficult listening situation, even with hearing aids. Choosing hearing aids with dual microphones is very important if this situation causes most of your struggle with hearing.

Comfortably snug fitting earmolds. It is normal to experience some occlusion effect (your voice becomes louder) when wearing hearing aids and/or ear molds.

Hearing aids can provide much help in communication, but the process does require a period of adjustment on the part of the wearer. Knowing what to expect can help immensely with your adjustment process. We encourage you to work with our hearing aid team to learn about this adjustment period and the benefits you should expect. 

Hearing Aid Prices In Ghana?

To purchase the hearing aids in Ghana it will cost you between the range of GH¢1,000 to GH¢6,000…!!!