According to a recent study done by The National Council on Aging, approximately 28 million Americans suffer from some form of hearing loss; 19 million of these are 45 years of age and older. Most of these people are facing a daily struggle that people with normal hearing just cannot understand.
Noisy environments, such as restaurants, parties, and other group situations tend to pose the greatest difficulty for those with hearing loss. Even a mild hearing loss can cause significant frustration in communicating with other people in these types of situations. This frustration often results in avoidance of social situations altogether, which can result in feelings of sadness and isolation. This need not be the case! There are technologies available today that can combat this issue of difficulty communicating in noisy environments.
Many hearing aid features have been developed in the past with the aim of improving communication in noisy environments, yet only one of these hearing aid features has actually been proven to significantly improve speech understanding in the presence of background noise. Dual microphone technology is that development. Hearing aids with this feature have two microphones, rather than just one microphone, like most hearing aids in the past.
Traditional single-microphone hearing aids amplify the sound coming from all around one’s head equally, so the hearing aid wearer hears the background noise at the same level as the speech in front of him. This causes the speech sounds to “blur,” or blend in with the background noise. In contrast, dual microphone systems can detect whether a sound is coming from in front of, or from behind the person who is wearing the hearing aid. The internal circuitry of the hearing aid then reduces the volume of the noise coming from behind, thus allowing the person to hear more of what is in front of him (speech), and less of what is behind him (noise). This technology can significantly improve how a person hears in noisy environments.
Dual microphones are available as an option on most digital hearing aids (with the exception being the smallest aids, due to lack of room for the two microphones), and come standard on many digital aids. Many digital hearing aids automatically detect the noise, and switch into directional (two-microphone) mode. If the hearing aid does not have this option, or does not switch effectively for an individual patient’s needs, the wearer can switch the hearing aid into the two-microphone mode by pushing a button on the hearing aid, or by using a remote control. Although dual microphones have been available for several years, advances in hearing aid research and technology continue to make them more and more effective.
As is the case with any feature on hearing aids, there are situations when even dual microphones are not successful in alleviating background noise sufficiently for the hearing aid wearer because the “background” noise may be originating from somewhere other than behind the wearer. However, overall dual microphone technology has been extremely successful in helping hearing aid wearers to hear better in background noise. Due to this success, it is quickly becoming an industry standard. If you have trouble hearing in background noise, dual microphone technology may make a difference for you!
To learn more about our Midwest Hearing Center audiologists and the hearing healthcare services they provide, please call 309-691-6616 in Peoria, or 309-284-0164 in Morton.
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