Hearing Aids
Good Things to Know About Siemens Hearing Aids
Siemens offers a wide range of aids for the hearing impaired. One of the most important aids they offer is the Siemens Centra Active. A person would no longer have to be limited because of an active lifestyle if they chose this hearing aid. It is protected against excessive moisture caused by the menopausal hot flashes, which has created havoc with many hearing aid users because of the unusual sweating that occurs during this time. If you are the type of person who enjoys working in your garden or spending time outside during the heat of the summer, you’ll perspire at some point. Your hearing aid must be able to stand up to the excess perspiration. If you want to just be outside watching your children play, this will help ease your limitations and allow you and your children more quality time together because you won’t have to worry about your hearing aid conking out on you when you start to sweat from the summer heat!
This amazing little instrument has a clip-on microphone cover to protect it from moisture, dust, and extra-tiny particles such as pollen. Pollen dust can be thick and annoying during the spring and could be a hindrance to your hearing aid that is not protected against it.
Another awesome development Siemens has access to is the charger. Batteries have long been a source of frustration for hearing aid wearers, especially if you aren’t able to get new ones when you need them most. Battery chargers have stepped outside the boundaries of video recorders, digital cameras, and cell phones to reach the field of the hearing impaired. Those who were limited by batteries can now extend their capabilities with the Centra Active Charger, which will greatly help active hearing aid wearers. Five hours of charging can be done as you sleep because the smart little charger shuts off when it’s done. You’ll get a full day of use and onto into the evening.
Some of the other great products Siemens offers are as follows:
1. Siemens Acuris Life-the first wireless aid, an open canal aid, has flexible tubes with soft tips, 3 memory settings, 16 channels, 3 year warranty, $1300
2. 2. Siemens Centra Active-water-resistant, rechargeable, optional charger ($150), comes in 11 colors, $1600
3. Siemens Cielo 2 Life
4. Siemens Cielo DIR BTE
5. Siemens Cielo Life
6. Siemens Artis 2 Life
Some of the tests performed to determine the best hearing aid for your degree of hearing loss include: whispered speech, tuning fork, audiometry, otoa coustic, emissions and auditory brainstem response. An audiologist (someone who is trained to evaluate and treat hearing defects) can best determine which type of hearing aid is the best type for you. Sometimes there is added bone growth which interferes with the transmission of sound waves. It can be stopped or reversed with surgery 70% of the time. Even so, a hearing aid may be necessary until you can have the surgery, or it may be necessary if you do have the surgery and suffer still from a certain degree of hearing loss.
All About BTE Digital Hearing Aids
People who are in the market for hearing aids can get aids that fit in and on different parts of the ear. They can obtain hearing aids that have different kinds of circuitry. BTE digital hearing aids combine a common type of hearing device with the latest circuitry.
For years, there was no such thing as digital processing. Then, when there was, it was too big and bulky to be feasible to be used. Even when it became possible to use, it still wasn’t practical until the technology came along to make the circuits tiny like they are today. BTE digital hearing aids are one type of hearing aid that uses this technology.
BTE stands for behind the ear. BTE digital hearing aids have the same basic structure as ordinary BTE aids. They have an ear mold that fits into the ear. This is connected to the hearing aid, which sets behind the ear, by a tube called the tone hook. A microphone sits atop the hearing aid to channel sound into the aid. The BTE aid is durable, powerful, and has easy to use controls.
BTE digital hearing aids are capable of so much more than the analog variety. If you’ve ever listened to a vinyl record album and then a CD, then you are aware of the difference digital sound can make. However, that’s only the beginning of what a BTE digital hearing aid can do.
BTE digital hearing aids function by converting the sound that is gathered by the microphone into bits, computer bits that is. These bits are processed at an amazingly fast rate. They are used in a processor known in the hearing aid industry as a DSP, or digital signal processor.
These DSP’s are capable of sorting sounds into channels of frequencies. This is important because certain speech sounds are higher in pitch and other sounds are lower. If you don’t have the full range of audible frequencies, speech will sound jumbled to you because you are not hearing all the sounds. BTE digital hearing aids also have more power for amplification to make it even easier to distinguish voices.
BTE digital hearing aids can treat continuous noise differently that they process short duration noises. It only makes sense that, for instance, you would be more interested in the sound of the doorbell than in the sound of the air conditioner running. They also minimize feedback by both their circuitry and by the way the ear mold fits into the ear.
Another problem BTE digital hearing aids correct is recruitment. This is when a person with hearing loss has trouble because soft noises sound too soft and loud noises sound too loud. The digital processing of sound diminishes this problem. Some BTE digital hearing aids offer two microphones to focus on what is in front of the wearer. This is called directionality. It allows for less distraction from the surrounding environment.
BTE digital hearing aids offer the both worlds. They are rugged and easy for even a child to use. They also have the advantages of digital sound processing. For many, it’s an easy choice.