Why is Hearing Aid Frequency so Important?

Sometimes, it is hard to understand all the different sounds around us. Obviously, there isn’t enough time in a day to learn and memorize each and every sound but if you are having trouble hearing, you might be interested in knowing why some sounds are easy to understand while others are not. Here are 5 quick things that will help you better understand the condition and decide the best solution for yourself.

1. What is low frequency and high frequency?

People with hearing loss have told me that it is possible to hear vowel sounds, such as with a, e, i, o and u, but they can’t hear consonant sounds. The reason is that consonant sounds are high frequency while the vowels are low frequencies and most of the hearing loss conditions have to do with the high frequencies.

2. How a hearing aid works.

A hearing aid has three parts: a microphone, an amplifier, and a speaker. The hearing aid receives sound through a microphone, which converts the sound waves to electrical signals and sends them to an amplifier. The amplifier increases the power of the signals and then sends them to the ear through a speaker. The sound from the speaker is what you finally hear.

3. The issue with some hearing aids.

Someone who has their hearing impaired and is using a hearing aid may easily hear someone talking yet not be able to understand what they are hearing because it sounds muffled. This is because a hearing aid fails at making certain sounds loud enough as to let a hearing­ impaired person to hear and understand them. Hearing aids just can’t make these high­ frequency sounds loud enough to allow hearing impaired people to understand them.

4. The change in hearing aids.

This was until digital technology developed rapidly and, in the mid­90’s, allowed hearing aids to advance significantly. Now, digital hearing aids can be changed to match a person’s unique level of hearing loss. This is achieved through the technology within the hearing aid that changes the sound into digital code. The computer chip then analyzes and changes the sound based on the hearing­ impaired person’s needs. These signals are then converted into sound waves. To put this in a simple way, the technology captures the sounds and, if they are high frequency, converts them into a lower frequency, thus enabling the wearer to understand the speaker better. This is, as I have heard, a lot better than just hearing muffled noises.

5. The different abilities of newer hearing aids.

Technology, being the charitable creature it is, is always helping those in need. Open fitting hearing aids leave the ear open by a fraction for higher frequency hearing loss, this open fit allows low to medium frequency sounds into the ear normally, allowing for it to only amplify the high frequency sounds. People with low frequency hearing loss possibly may be able to hear other people perfectly but can’t hear something like a thunder. However, new digital hearing aids are being equipped with multiple channels so that a person can set their hearing aid to match the frequency of their unique hearing loss and enjoy a happier life.