FAQ List

Yes, different dealers have different schemes

From what you’ve mentioned, it seems that you have a small rupture in your eardrum. Hence, it is advisable not to ignore it and visit an experienced ENT or audiologist at the earliest. He can tell you about the exact problem after conducting preliminary tests like audiometry. However, before anything, you need to verify if your audiologist has the minimum eligibility, i.e., if he/she has completed a 3-4-year degree in speech and hearing. Additionally, if they are armed with a 2-year Master’s degree, then it’s even better! Generally, one gets to hear whistles, sound of crickets, beating drums and other sounds with rupture of eardrums. Besides this, one can hear these sounds if there is accumulation of earwax, build-up of catarrh in the connecting canal of nose and ears, growth of small tumours or pus in ears. In such cases, you need to reach an experienced ENT or audiologist immediately and get the problem treated.

If people complain that you are not following communication

If friends and family members complain that you do not respond even if they call you by name

If you feel that people talking around your are constantly mumbling or their voices are blurry

If you hear male voices better but have difficulty in following women voices

If you are missing common sounds of bikes or ringing of phone or door bell

Difficulty in following conversations in public or within a group of people

If you have difficulty hearing television and/or the telephone

If you are frequently asking others to repeat themselves, even in quiet rooms

If people are complaining that you turn the TV volume too high

If you have trouble hearing birds or wind in the trees

Hearing aids are of the following types:-

1) Pocket model or body-worn. 2) BTE (behind-the-ear). 3) ITE (in-the-ear). 4) ITC (in-the-canal). 5) CIC (completely in the canal). 6) IIC (invisible-in-the-canal). Of these, except body –worn, all aids are generally analog, semi-digital and digital types. Body-worn or pocket model hearing aids generally start from Rs. 2000. However, these aids are better not to be used because they don’t give you the right hearing experience. The reason is that the microphone part receiving sound signals remains in the chest area. You have to make an effort to bring your ears to that area, which is extremely inconvenient.

Programmable hearing aids are a lot better and scientifically proven than analog or trimmer digital hearing aids. The reason is, those with sensorineural hearing loss face a common problem with non-programmable digital aids, like too loud surrounding sounds and inability to comprehend what someone is saying from the front. Digital hearing aids lessen surrounding sounds; hence, one doesn’t face these problems.

Analog BTEs generally start from Rs. 5000. Programmable BTEs are from Rs. 7500 and those with noise tracker or lessening surrounding sounds start from around Rs. 10000-12000/-.

The advantage of hearing aids behind the ears is that their power models can be used for severe to profound hearing loss. Microphone technology of these hearing aids is superior. As a result, determining direction of sounds and understanding speech in noise or crowd and group conversation becomes easier.

Let’s now come to custom models, where firstly, ear impression is taken and then aids are made according to your ear measurement. ITE, ITC, CIC and IIC– these four models are generally custom-made in this way. Their costs generally start between Rs. 15000–16000/-. CIC aids remain inside ears and are invisible from outside. However, since these aids do not have directional microphones, you should opt for CICs in both ears if you have hearing problems in both ears. Lastly, it’s with your audiologist to select the best hearing aid.

Monotonous crying (child has one type of crying, differential crying cannot be heard)

Child does not respond to loud sounds like by blinking eyes or turning head

Cessation of activities, sudden crying

Hyperactivity

Delayed speech & language development(a two year old normal hearing child has a vocabulary of 270 words and a 3 year old normal hearing child has 900 words).

He/she does not respond if called from the other room

The child may speak too loudly or too softly

He/she may put T.V. or radio on high volume

The child may have difficulty paying attention for a continuous period of time. He/she will not be able to focus and listen

The child may use lot of signs while speaking

The child may use only few words, and may not be able to speak meaningful sentences.

This isn’t a major problem. If you use BTE or RIC hearing aid, then your audiologist will provide you with an accessories kit when you take hearing aids. He/she will make you understand how to clean your aid. If you’re using CIC or the tiny aids which remain inside ears and are invisible from outside, then you’ll get a disposable unit which keeps the internal part of hearing aid safe from dirt or earwax. Besides, there are other ways to protect hearing aids. Your audiologist can rightly guide you about everything

Now various types of hearing aids are available which remain inside ears and are invisible from outside. So there’s nothing to be ashamed of. If you don’t use hearing aids at the right time, then your hearing loss can increase rapidly. You won’t be getting desired results even if you use hearing aids at a later stage. You might even get permanently hearing impaired and socially neglected. Depression is a big possibility. Not only the person himself, everyone from dear ones to relatives of a hearing-impaired person faces a lot of trouble.

You need to use water-resistant hearing aids and when buying aids, do not forget to go for extended warranty. You will get two-years warranty free. Additionally, buy the one-year extended warranty. Whenever you buy hearing aids, learn how to use the same. Try to get your aid examined every 6 months

Absolutely. You have to use wireless or Bluetooth technology, which automatically transfers mobile conversations to your hearing aid. You don’t even need to hold your mobile phone in your ears. Your hearing aid will work as Bluetooth.

Hearing aid is such a medical device, which if not selected rightly can harm your ears largely.

Case 1 –

A person with hearing loss unknowingly took a hearing aid from a local shop/dispenser without consulting any audiologist. He had 40% hearing loss in one ear and 70% in the other. Two extremely high-power hearing aids were wrongly given to him for both ears and he was happy for what he got. After two years, when he visited a qualified audiologist, and said that his right ear (which had 40% hearing loss) hearing aid makes shrill and buzzing sounds, the audiologist conducted tests, which revealed that he had 70% hearing loss in his right and 75% in left ear at that time. This meant that his right ear hearing loss shot up by 35% and by 5% in his left ear. Why is so? The reason is wrongly selected aid for right ear has resulted in noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) in that ear. This is a glaring example of incorrect selection of hearing aid. Always remember that only a qualified audiologist can best figure out the amount of gain to set in different frequencies.

Case 2 –

A child, mischievous and although 2.5 years old, is unable to speak yet. In such cases, speech therapy is generally the principal solution. The parents of the child took him to a quack speech therapist, where certain subjective tests were performed like beating drums and blowing whistles to determine his hearing status. The parents were told that their child is unable to hear and needs a hearing aid. Being unaware, they went for the same. However, when their child showed no signs of improvement even after one year, they took their child to a qualified speech therapist. He recommended few objective tests like ABR – OAE – ASSR as well as psychometric test for the child. The tests revealed that the child has autism and no hearing loss. But using hearing aid for a year has given birth to noise induced hearing loss in the child, which means that, along with autism, the child now has high frequency hearing loss. This is only due to the treatment carried out by the quack speech therapist.

You have progressive sensorineural hearing loss, and hence, it’s increasing every year. However, you can restrict the same considerably. Firstly, you need to go through certain tests to determine your hearing capacity and what factors it is affecting. Secondly, CIC hearing aid isn’t right for you, because they have very low residual gain and needs to be changed frequently in case of progressive hearing loss. Thirdly, you need hearing aids in both ears and they need to be BTEs. Both aids should have high frequency range and residual gain. Fourthly, both the hearing aids need to be re-programmed at least once every three months. Lastly, you need to get all hearing tests done and use both the hearing aids for 14–16 hours. Keep your high blood pressure/diabetes under check. If you’re in touch with a qualified audiologist, he/she is going to rightly advise you regarding everything. There’s nothing to panic. Even a child with congenital hearing loss is able to hear with today’s advanced technology. Hence, be sure that you will hear clearly, whatever your age is.

Receiver in the canal (RIC) aids is best for you. These aren’t tiny like CICs or big like BTEs. Where CICs measure 1 inch in length, RICs are around 2 inches in total. RICs are generally hidden inside hair; hence, invisible from outside. They are easy-to-use. Their battery life is also twice the battery life of CICs

Please reach any practising audiologist at the earliest and seek his expert advice. He can rightly diagnose the problem and its intensity by way of conducting an audiometry test. If possible, take a leave from your office and give your ears a break. Partial or overall hearing loss can increase the likelihood of shortening lifespan. Your audiologist can best suggest you about the kind of hearing aid you need based on your need and profession. Brace yourself. Do not let hearing loss eclipse your life

Firstly, you should know that hearing loss is likely to increase at random speed if you’re not using hearing aid at the right time. Delay in taking aids might not provide you with desired results and you might experience social, emotional and physical problems. If you delay too much, you won’t be able to use CIC or cosmetic aids, which remain inside ears and are invisible from outside. The reason is, CIC aids don’t work if hearing loss shoots up and affects your quality of life, like watching TV, listening music, talking over phone, speaking at home and problems in daily work. Your relatives and acquaintances cannot mix with you due to your hearing problem and this gives rise to complications.

Not all people opt for hearing aids. Approximately, 5 out of 100 people go for hearing aids. Awareness about the same still isn’t progressive. Many tend to ignore the problem. However, hearing aids are not the only remedy for all types of hearing loss. Hence, an audiometry test needs to be done from an experienced audiologist to decide whether you require hearing aid or not.

It can happen due to several reasons. Firstly, if any qualified speech therapist isn’t looking over your child – for example, we have seen patients who are told that to get an AVT done, one doesn’t need a speech therapist. Since the number of qualified speech therapists is quite low, hence, it is generally said so. It is best that a qualified speech therapist performs auditory verbal therapy or AVT. It cures articulation errors quickly. Secondly, it is important to know how many electrodes are working in your child’s cochlear implant. If a minimum of 12–14 electrodes are not working, then normal speech becomes impossible. Thirdly, you need to know if your child has other problems along with hearing loss such as global development delay (GDD), mental retardation (MR), social communication disorder etc.

We would advise you to seek help of a qualified audiologist. If you’re already doing that, seek a second opinion. Every patient has the right to obtain that.

Firstly, it needs to be seen how less your child hears. For that, tests like ABR, ASSR and OAE needs to be done. Then as per suggestion of an audiologist, your child needs to use a hearing aid for 3 months, this should be coupled with auditory training. If during auditory training, it is seen that your child can’t hear anything even with hearing aid, then cochlear implant is a necessity. However, in that case, your child’s age needs to be below 3 years.

Since your father-in-law was independent, he’s mentally wrecked from his sudden hearing loss. His self-confidence has lowered. He has lost his self-respect and being dependent on you people, he’s suffering from guilt and is keeping to himself. Take him to an experienced audiologist today without further delay and get an audiometry test done. It looks like he needs a hearing aid. Not taking a hearing aid for hearing loss can even result in decreased lifespan. Hence, to avoid any risk and make him fit, it is important to take these necessary steps.

Absolutely! She needs a trial with contralateral routing of signal (CROS) hearing aid. If she has problems with that, in that case, she needs a trial with a wireless CROS hearing aid. The problem might get resolved with this. If your mother had comparatively less hearing loss, then CIC, RIC or ITC aids would have been recommended for her ear. However, CROS is the only solution for profound loss.

Many people think that ear problems occur due to accumulation of earwax in ears and start cleaning their ears with cotton buds or swabs. This might provide them with temporary relief but might pose a bigger threat if there’s any underlying problem. One can experience oozing of water or pus from ears. In medical terminology, build-up of pus in ears for a long time is known as Acute Suppurative Otitis Media (ASOM) and frequent secretion of water or pus from ears is known as Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media (CSOM). Hence, it is advisable not to ignore or delay these problems at any cost and get in touch with an experienced ENT doctor to address your wife’s problems at the earliest. There might be likelihood for hearing loss for her. If yes, then with time, it would pose a greater challenge for treatment.

The sound of conversations we have daily does not exceed 60–65 decibels. However, currently, a tendency among the youth brigade shows them listening to music everywhere round the clock with earphones plugged in to their ears. Listening to music for more than 8 hours daily on these kinds of personal music devices at 80–85 decibels is extremely harmful for your ears. Equally damaging is speaking in mobile for a long time. Electromagnetic rays of mobile devices are risky and detrimental for your ears. Excessive usage of such devices creates cochlear dead region inside ears. Besides, honking of vehicles, firecrackers and other mechanical sounds creates immense adverse effects.

7 days trial period

24 hours patient care helpline

Two years International warranty

If needed, 3-years extended warranty

Binaural fitting benefit

Special paediatric hearing and fitting benefit

FOR ADULTS

AUDITIORY TRAINING

REPROGRAMMING/ FINE TUNING

DETAILS PRODUCT TRAINING

FOR PEDIATRICS

REGULAR MONITORING OF EAR MOULDS

AUDITORY TRAINING

SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY

PARENTAL EDUCATION &TRAINING

CARE OF ASSOCIATED PROBLEMS

For paediatrics, before purchasing the hearing aid just check whether the same clinic has a separate department for speech therapy or not. Only a hearing aid cannot help your child to develop speech and language skills. For speech therapy, always ask for a short term goal and pre planned long term goal, which is properly signed and attested by a qualified speech and language pathologist.

It purely depends on the type and degree of hearing loss and the daily needs of a person. For example, a person ageing 45 years who usually attends 3-4 meetings in a day and has a hearing loss of moderate degree would need a binaural hearing aid with directional microphone, which might cost approximately around Rs. 50000/-

Requirement of hearing aids differs according to one’s profession, age, habit etc. However, one should refrain from thinking that wearing hearing aids would make him/her look bad; such ideas are baseless, because these days, you get almost invisible aids with advanced technologies.

One doesn’t need any particular educational qualification to be a hearing aid dealer or dispenser. A simple class X pass-out can become a hearing aid dispenser. But to become an audiologist, one must possess a 3 – 4 years bachelors degree in Audiology & Speech Language Pathology from any UGC recognized University and should be certified by RCI or Rehabilitation Council of India as well. Additionally, if one has a two-year Master’s degree, then it’s even better. For 4-year Bachelor’s degree, one needs to clear an entrance test after 10+2. It’s like the difference between a surgeon and OT technician, with many dealers or dispensers trying to project themselves as audiologists to their patients. Always ask for letterhead, registration number and ISHA membership number from the person who’s fitting your hearing aid. If they cannot furnish the same, then you are in the hands of a quack. In that case, selecting the wrong hearing aid might damage your hearing ability forever!

Hearing loss is a worldwide problem today. Universal hearing screening that’s done in the US, shows that 3% of the total population is born with hearing problems. In India, such types of studies are conducted periodically in places like Kerala, Trivandrum etc. Government indifference and lack of proper infrastructure hasn’t resulted in proper awareness among people. Very few people are recruited as Government audiologists. Additionally, people don’t have clear idea about minimum eligibility of an audiologist.

However, according to an Australian Research &Information Programme, if a child born with hearing loss problem receives treatment within 18 months, then chances of good results are greater. Otherwise, it becomes an impossibility to treat the same after the child turns five. This needs awareness campaign, and for that, various NGOs, media and Government have to come forward.

Nowadays different companies have different technology, so as per your need the audiologist will decide which brand suits you best.

These days you get various brands of hearing aids and each of them have their good and bad sides. Only an experienced audiologist can tell you about the practical details of hearing loss and which brand will work best for you. Wired hearing aids are a strict no-no, because it’s harmful if you have a pacemaker implanted in your heart. If you don’t have a pacemaker, you’ll feel like you are listening to music in loudspeakers, you cannot use it during summer as it is technologically inferior. Any experienced audiologist will think at least hundred times before recommending wired hearing aids.

A Speech-Language Pathologist is a qualified professional who provides a comprehensive array of professional services related to the identification, diagnosis and management of persons with communication and swallowing disorders. Speech-Language Pathologists are involved in a number of different activities to promote effective communication and swallowing for the individuals they serve and prevent disorders of communication and swallowing. As an independent professional, his/her services and activities are not prescribed or supervised by another professional. However, he/she often collaborates with other professionals for provision of services.

A Speech-Language Pathologist must have a qualification of 3-4 years bachelor degree course In Audiology & Speech Language Pathology (BASLP) from a UGC recognized University. It is desirable he/she has completed 2 years masters degree programme (MASLP) as well. He/she also has to be certified by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) to practice independently

An Audiologist is a qualified professional who provides a comprehensive array of professional services related to the identification, diagnosis and management of persons with auditory (peripheral and central disorders), balance and related disorders and the prevention of these impairments. As an independent professional, his/her services and activities are not prescribed or supervised by another professional. However, he/she often collaborates with other professionals for provision of services.

An Audiologist must have a qualification of 4 years bachelor degree course In Audiology & Speech Language Pathology (BASLP) from a UGC recognised University. It is desirable he/she has completed 2 years masters degree programme (MASLP) as well. He/she also has to be certified by the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) to practice independently.

In India, the total number of registered qualified audiologists and speech therapists counts to around 1700 (as per Indian Speech & Hearing Association), of which, more than 900 audiologists live abroad.

Hence, only about 800 ISHA registered qualified professionals are here in India. That’s the only reason for the malpractice of quacks.

This is required because approximately 50% of clients are dissatisfied with their current hearing aid for wrong selection & fitting procedure.