Even if you use glasses (the kind you put on your face, not the kind you drink out of), you still visit your eye doctor annually, right? Because, as time passes, your eyes change. Nothing in your body is fixed, not your eyes and not, as it happens, your ears either. That’s why, just as it is with your eyes, it’s crucial to keep getting your ears checked even after you’ve purchased a quality pair of hearing aids.
Many people, regrettably, miss those annual appointments. Perhaps a trip to their doctor is taking a back seat to enjoying life. Or, it could be that your job has been stressful lately. Or perhaps, you’ve just been so satisfied with your hearing aids that you haven’t felt the need to go back in. That’s a good thing, right?
Getting your hearing assessed
Let’s use Daphne as our fictional stand-in. Daphne has been noticing some red flags with her hearing for a while now. She keeps turning the TV up. She has difficulty understanding discussions at after-work happy hours in loud restaurants. And because she enjoys taking care of herself, and she’s intelligent, she schedules a hearing assessment.
Daphne makes certain to follow all of the steps to manage her hearing impairment: she gets fitted for new hearing aids and has them correctly calibrated, and then gets back to her regular routine.
Problem solved? Well, maybe not completely. It’s great that Daphne went in for a hearing screening and caught her hearing problems early. But, in the long run, follow-up care becomes almost more significant for individuals with even a small amount of hearing loss. Keeping up on routine appointments would be a wise plan for Daphne. But Daphne’s not alone in bypassing check-ups, according to one study, just 33% of seniors using hearing aids also maintained routine hearing services.
Why do you need check-ups once you get hearing aids?
Remember when we used the glasses metaphor earlier? Just because Daphne uses hearing aids now doesn’t mean her hearing will become fixed and stop changing. Her hearing aids will need to be fine-tuned to account for those changes. Regular testing helps monitor any changes in hearing and catch problems early.
And that’s not even the only reason why it might be a good idea to keep regular appointments once you have your hearing aids. Some of the most prevailing reasons to ensure you get to your next check-up include:
- Hearing degeneration: Even with a hearing aid, your hearing may continue to deteriorate. If this degeneration is slow enough, you most likely won’t notice it’s happening without the assistance of a hearing exam. Proper adjustments to your hearing aids can often slow hearing loss.
- Your fit may change: It’s possible that there will be a change in how your hearing aids fit as your ears are always changing. Making sure your hearing aids continue to fit well is a big part of your regular check-ups.
- Hearing aid calibration: While your overall hearing health may remain stable, small changes in your hearing might produce the need for yearly calibration of your hearing aid. Without this calibration, your hearing aids may slowly become less and less effective.
Dangers and roadblocks
The main problem here is that sooner or later, the hearing aids Daphne is wearing will quit working the way they’re supposed to, so she’ll get frustrated with them and stop using them entirely. Wearing hearing aids helps slow hearing loss over time. Your hearing will deteriorate faster if you quit wearing your hearing aids and you most likely won’t even detect it.
In terms of attaining optimal performance of your hearing aids, and optimal hearing, routine hearing assessments are vital. Protect your hearing and make sure your hearing aids are effectively working by having routine screenings.
