Hearing aids for Senior citizens.... Need for a reality check!

 Usually senior citizens sufferring from hearing loss have a common complaint. " I can hear u but cant make out what ur saying", " dont increase the volume (speaker or TV) ... my ears ache" "I cannot tolerate loud sounds.... "

 Some who have been using hearing aids complain, " its a waste of money. i cant make out anything..", " the noise is irritating and i get a headache". Very often these hearing aids are discarded. Of all my senior citizen clientele that were aided before about 90% of them had rejected their hearing aids.
What goes wrong?

• The first fault lies in testing itself. Many people go for 'fitting' hearing aids (usually to distributors) without doing a hearing test or an audiogram. How on earth can the fitting be done?
• It is very important that a complete audiometry which includes an audiogram and speech audiometry be performed on the client. Also the tolerance levels can be checked. Speech discrimination scores are particularly needed if the person has "clarity" issues.
• Many people do not use ear moulds (when needed).
• Due to financial reasons amny senior citizens compromise on the quality of hearing aids. For instance, a programmable hearing-aid will give better clarity than non-programmable ones but they do come at a cost. These days there are good programmabble aids which are reasonable. One must ask the audiologist for the same.
• A very important factor is "realistic expectations" from hearing aids. The end user should be told about what is to be expected after the fitting.

A point to draw home: Senior citizens with hearing loss usually suffer from nerve deafness which makes it imperative that their hearing aid fitting be accurate considering different factors and more importantly the outcome expectation should be 'realistic'....