When you put your hearing aids in after getting out of bed in the quiet morning, they likely don’t need to be at maximum volume. If you head to a construction site for work or walk into a concert at Dirty Boots Augusta, however, you’ll need to adjust your devices’ settings to accommodate your changing environment.
Adjusting Settings Manually
Depending on the model of hearing aid you use, you will either need to adjust the settings manually or they will adjust automatically. If you’re adjusting manually, you can do so with buttons on the devices themselves or through their companion app.
Hearing aid companion apps offer several ways to adjust your devices to fit your environment. The first adjustment you can make is to turn the volume up or down. You want the volume to be comfortable; it shouldn’t feel like you’re being yelled at or like you’re straining to hear.
The second adjustment you can make is to turn on directional microphones or noise isolation. With directional microphones, your devices will pick up sound in front of and behind you, helping you understand speech in noisy environments and block out competing noise.
Noise isolation identifies speech sounds and amplifies them without amplifying irrelevant background sounds. Many modern hearing aids use noise isolation constantly. For example, if you’re sitting in a quiet space, your devices will amplify speech while ignoring spontaneous loud noises, like a dish dropping to the ground or a car honking in the distance.
Automatic Hearing Aid Adjustments
One of the benefits of newer hearing aids is their ability to adjust automatically; when you enter a new space, they’ll recognize it and adjust accordingly. Some devices can even learn the voices you encounter most frequently and prioritize those when choosing what to amplify.
Understanding how your devices work and ensuring their programming matches your environment will deliver the clearest sound possible, wherever you are. If you have any questions about operating your hearing aids or want to discuss adjusting their programming with one of our specialists, contact Augusta – Aiken ENT & Allergy today.