Empowered Patient Podcast Hearing Loss and Expectations for Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids with Dr. Leslie Soiles HearingLife
Dr. Leslie Soiles is the Chief Audiologist at HearingLife, which provides hearing care through professionals who conduct hearing assessments at physical locations and make recommendations for the appropriate way to treat hearing loss. With advancements in nanotechnology and the availability of over-the-counter hearing aids, there are more opportunities to address hearing loss. Still, there are many issues to be aware of when using those devices.
Leslie explains, "Over-the-counter hearing aids are designed for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. Over-the-counter hearing aids don't require a hearing test to be performed, so if somebody thinks that they might be a candidate for OTC, over-the-counter hearing aids, I really do recommend that they first start with that hearing test to make sure that their need falls within the standard of what an over-the-counter hearing aid is designed for."
"In HearingLife, we recommend people start at age 60, and that provides that baseline measurement. As those statistics that I mentioned earlier indicate, going forward from that point, the likelihood of hearing loss is very high. And so, if you can just start monitoring the status of your hearing because it does progress slowly. Having an annual hearing test starting at age 60 gives you that yardstick to measure as you go forward so that you aren't surprised by it."
"For the first time ever, we have patients that have normal hearing, but they love the Bluetooth streaming capability that current hearing aids have. And so, I've had people with normal hearing saying, "Hey, I wish I could wear hearing aids too." That was unheard of before."
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