M W came in to see me at the Crystal River office of Gardner Audiology. She was referred to us from an ear, nose, and throat physician. She has longstanding history of middle ear problems and surgeries. She also has some nerve related hearing loss. We have followed her loss since 2004, with some fluctuation over the years.
In August 2013, M W revealed the medical practice she works for has changed hands and she is struggling to understand the new doctor. She has long been a candidate for amplification, but has been resistant. We fitted M W with a pair of Starkey X110 hearing aids that have a speaker in the canal (RIC) and followed up with her over the course of three weeks.
Today, M W came in to purchase her hearing aids. She reports that she understands conversation much better than before and that the hearing aids enable her to function at work with a much lower stress level. She admitted that she put off trying hearing aids for so long because she was afraid if she started using them too early, they would not be beneficial in later years. She said she did a lot of online research this year before determining that was an incorrect assumption. She also learned there is a direct correlation between hearing loss and memory issues. She is now sorry she waited so long.
M W is thrilled with her new Starkey X110 hearing aids and gives them TWO THUMBS UP!
Industry statistics show that people wait up to 7 years to solve their hearing problems. M.W. and I agree that this is too long to wait for better hearing.
