# How Hearing Aids Help

Hearing Loss Treatment
It would seem that hearing is a second-rate sense when compared to vision in our visually oriented modern society. People with hearing loss will delay hearing loss treatment because they are unaware of the fact that receiving early treatment for hearing loss has the potential to literally transform their lives.
Hearing Aids
Research by the National Council on the Aging on more than 2,000 people with hearing loss as well as their significant others demonstrated that hearing aids clearly are associated with impressive improvements in the social, emotional, psychological, and physical well-being of people with hearing loss in all hearing loss categories from mild to severe. Specifically, hearing aid usage is positively related to the following quality of life issues. Hearing loss treatment was shown to improve:

- Earning power
- Communication in relationships
- Intimacy and warmth in family relationships
- Ease in communication
- Emotional stability
- Sense of control over life events
- Perception of mental functioning
- Physical health

How Hearing Aids Work
While the processing of modern hearing aids is complex, and computer programming is required to make some of the adjustments, the basic components that make them work has not changed. The basic function of a hearing aid is as follows:

- Sound waves enter through the microphone, which converts acoustic signals into electrical signals.
- The amplifier increases the strength of the electrical signal.
- From the amplifier, the signal is then transformed back to an acoustic signal by the receiver (a miniature loud speaker).
- From the receiver the signal is channeled into the ear canal, either through a small tube or through an ear mold.
- A battery is required to power the hearing aid and enable the amplification process. Many hearing aids also have user controls (e.g. toggle switch, volume control wheel, push button, or remote control)that enable the wearer to adjust a variety of hearing aid parameters, including:
- Turning the hearing aid "on" or "off"
- Changing the volume
- Switching to the telecoil
- Switching between omni- and directional-microphone settings
- Switching to a different pre-programmed memory
- Brief Guide to Modern Hearing Aid Technology

In addition to the basic features of hearing aids discussed earlier, there are many other features available in modern hearing aids-some of them are for convenience and ease of use, others are designed to improve speech understanding or listening comfort.
For more information on additional hearing aid technology, click here
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