Many individuals wonder whether they should purchase their hearing aids at a big box store or see a doctor of audiology at a professional practice. Often big box stores can provide competitive pricing which make them desirable; however, it is important to note that there is a wide variation in the training, experience and type of hearing dispenser you may work with. Even more notable most of the hearing aid technology they work with is often locked or proprietary, which mean you can only take your hearing aids to them specifically to have any service done.
Recently at Gardner Audiology we had seen a patient who was not hearing well. He was currently wearing hearing aids which he purchased from a big box store and only a few years old. His spouse was concerned that he was becoming less social and missing out on a lot of conversation, even one-on-one. With his big box store hearing aids, he even struggled to follow our conversation in office.
Here at Gardner Audiology we utilize tools such as live speech mapping to ensure a proper fit of your hearing aids, to learn more about this you can visit our blog Live Speech Mapping on our website. We completed a few measurements utilizing live speech mapping and confirmed that this patient was not fit to his proper prescription. In fact, this patient was very under amplified. Regrettably, his hearing aids were locked leaving us unable to make any adjustments. This patient had to purchase new hearing aids in order to be fit with his proper prescription. With his appropriate hearing prescription, this patient is expected to do much better not only in one-on-one conversations but also when in a challenging listening situation, such as a noisy restaurant.
Our team of Audiologist are here to help answer any question you may have about hearing aids. If you have the same concerns this patient did or any questions about hearing aids call and make an appointment with us today! We accept most insurance plans. Please contact Gardner Audiology at 1-800-277-1182 or email info@gardneraudiology.com .
