COVID-19 and Hearing Health

 During this challenging time we're in, hearing health is also experiencing difficulty with muffled voices behind mask wearing.

It seems like every business and health issue is under new restrictions since the Coronaviris hit us this year. 2020 has become the most difficult year for people who have a hard time hearing conversations - especially in noise.

Hearing Health has been hit harder than most other ailments since people are wearing masks which muffles their voice; this makes hearing loss patients struggle since most of their hearing aids were not programmed for muffled voices behind masks.

Since this is a problem with so many patients, we have implemented plans to give a little more boost in the voice range to offset this new hearing challenge. Of course it must be noted how low-level hearing aids (usually costing $3,000.00 or less) cannot handle our custom "voice boost" since they are not capable of advanced programming for this new problem.

But all the mid-level to top-of-the-line hearing aids have much better features (you still get what you pay for) to handle voice boosting for extra muffled sound behind the masks. This goes for social distancing too since it's obvious how a distant voice is harder to hear than a close up conversation.

In our office, we have designed this approach to be permanent or temporary since no one knows when this virus will subside enough to eliminate this new hearing challenge. Our custom programming software is designed to save every programming appointment so we can go back in time to upload a patient's former settings or even set it to something in between. So we can go back to pre-COVID programming at any time.

Feel free to call us if you'd like to set an appointment for this great remedy to today's muffled voice problem. If you have purchased your hearing aids from us directly, there is no charge for this custom service.

Can a Hearing Aid be too small?

Many individuals insist on wearing the smallest hearing aid they can get, but will that really benefit their entire hearing experience?

If a person has a mild to moderate hearing loss than the answer is probably yes; probably is used here because only a licensed/qualified hearing care professional can answer that question properly after a hearing test and evaluation has been completed.

If someone's hearing loss is more significant than mild to moderate, then the answer is more than likely no, but again, this answer can only be addressed after a hearing test. There is still a possibility (but lessor of one) that the new small and discrete hearing aids may address all of a person's needs even if they have a more significant hearing loss.

Today, small and discrete means CIC, which stands for Completely in the Canal, so the hearing aid is totally invisible, unless someone was to get close and peak inside your ear canal.

Fortunately, at Crystal Clear Hearing Aids, our hearing tests and evaluations are free of charge and we can give expert advice if these tiny marvels of technology are right for you or not.

Even if they are not right for you, there are new generations of Hearing Aids that are almost completely invisible, that will suit any hearing loss as long as there is some hearing left in your test results. The above photo is called a RIC (Receiver in the Canal) which has a lot more power and capability than it's mini counterpart.

I wear this style of hearing aid and even when I see an old friend that I haven't seen in awhile, they don't see my hearing aids; I have to tell them I'm wearing them...I always get the same reaction: "Wow! I didn't even see them. I had no idea you were wearing hearing aids."

If you're considering small discrete hearing aids like the one's in the first photo above, it's important to know the basic rule of hearing loss and hearing aids. A significant loss requires more power and though tiny hearing aids have a lot more power these days, they may lack some of the volume boost for your loss and lifestyle, and they also may not have some of the very cool features that are found in the RIC style: such as blue tooth streaming of your phone calls into both of your hearing aids. The tiny one's are also not rechargeable since there is not enough room to squeeze a rechargeable battery system into the little space. Only the RIC style comes standard in the rechargeable feature (at our office) which makes it nice to say, bye, bye batteries.

The best way to know what's best for you is to call and schedule a free appointment to get a professional opinion and an in-office demonstration to actually see just how small and discrete the new hearing aids are; regardless of the size and style.



David Longeuay is a hearing aid wearer and was a full time audio engineer from 1980 until he opened up Crystal Clear Hearing Aids in 2016. He and his wife Sheri (also a hearing aid wearer) now have two offices: one in Anaheim and one in Lake Arrowhead, Ca.