All Hearing Aids Are Not the Same and I Can Prove It, Part 3

The Speech Mapping showed this. Speech Mapping gives us a readout of the frequency correction within + or – 3db of the hearing aids correction in the speech range. This is measured by inserting a probe microphone into the ear canal alongside the hearing aid. So what is measured is what the correction is for the patient while they are wearing the hearing aid.

The second measurement we started performing was the HINT or Hearing in Noise Test, which was developed to measure the patient’s improved ability to understand words in noise. When I started this testing 10 years ago I found out that most instruments performed miserably. There were some, fortunately, who performed at the level they were advertised. The sad part is that if you bought a hearing aid and were told it would help in these situations, unless you were lucky enough to choose the very few who could perform what they advertised, you were very disappointed.

This is why I fit HearPods for two years in my private practice. I had to know if we were actually performing at the level of correction we claimed. I am very pleased to tell you we are. I recommend that if you want the very best fitting you find someone who does independent testing. Many will tell you they do because they may have the equipment to perform the testing, however 99% of all hearing providers don’t perform these tests.

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