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Discussion Forum - The Bothy - hearing aids


Author: Rebecca Lawrence
Posted: Thu 24th Mar 2011, 10:50
Joined: 2003
Local Group: Marches
Great article in the strider. Audiology / hearing aids is my profession so I was very interested in the views from a user of hearing systems.
I wanted to add one thing - digital hearing aids as standard often have automatic directional microphones. To the lay person this means that when the hearing aid detects noise, it will automatically only amplify what is going on in front of it and makes the presumption the sound you want to hear is in front - an easy assumption to make given we normally face who we are talking to.

This can be a huge problem - imagine you are out on a walk, and you want to hear someone beside or behind you.......the hearing aid would detect noise (wind) switch itself into directional mode, and start only amplifying whats in front of it, making hearing the person beside you or behind you impossible.

It is possible to request a programme from your audiologist where the directional mic is switched off, and the hearing aid remains in omni directional mode (amplifying sounds from all round it) - this would be preferable in a walking situation.

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