If a loved one has a hearing exam coming up, one of the most useful things you can do for them is to accompany them to the appointment.
Here are five reasons why:
1. Many people are nervous about their hearing appointments.
Like any other kind of exam, it can cause anxiety, and the prospect of having to wear hearing aids might not be one that everyone looks forward to. Having a loved one there can really help to ease the anxiety or nervousness a patient may be experiencing.
2. Many times, audiologists can actually utilize your voice to help with the tuning of your loved one’s hearing aids.
It’s called the “familiar voice test” — because your loved one is used to your voice, it’s more reliable to test his or her hearing with that same input rather than an unfamiliar one. The audiologist might have you stand a certain distance away, then measure if your loved one can distinguish a few words you say. Then, as they fine-tune, you might step further away, or even outside the door, and repeat the exercise until the settings are dialed in for maximum comprehension.
3. The hearing exam and hearing aid fitting is a time when a lot of information is conveyed to the patient.
Even without any hearing loss, it can be difficult to retain it all. Having you there with them at the appointment means that two people are able to take in the information, and this leads to improved understanding for all parties involved.
4. The hearing aid fitting process may require some decisions to be made, and many patients have an easier time with this if they’re able to bounce ideas off a loved one.
For example, you may have to decide between a receiver-in-the ear hearing aid that will offer a better hearing experience or an in-the-ear hearing aid that has less features but is more covert.
5. Re-learning how to hear again can be overwhelming.
There are a lot of sounds your loved one has not heard for many years. Having a support system to adapt to the new hearing aids will ensure success and better speech understanding outcomes.
Have a question about what you should expect from your first hearing appointment? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
