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High-frequency hearing loss: Can hearing aids help?
By Mayo Clinic staffOriginal Article: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-frequency-hearing-loss/AN01853
- With Mayo Clinic geriatrician
Paul Y. Takahashi, M.D.
read biographyclose windowBiography of
Paul Y. Takahashi, M.D.
Paul Y. Takahashi, M.D.
"The Internet will impact the lives of all patients young and old. Older and mature patients are no exception to this information explosion." — Dr. Takahashi
Dr. Paul Yoshio Takahashi works with elderly patients as a member of the geriatric consultative group at Mayo Clinic. He works in all medical settings, including the outpatient clinic, the nursing home and occasionally the patient's home. He is especially interested in strategies for successful aging, preventing elder abuse and mistreatment, home telemonitoring, frailty, and cognitive screening in elderly patients.
Dr. Takahashi is a consultant in the Division of Primary Care Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic. He is an associate professor of medicine at College of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, and a fellow of the American College of Physicians. He had a fellowship in geriatric medicine at Mayo Graduate School of Medicine from 1997 to 1998.
Dr. Takahashi cares for all of a patient's acute needs and chronic problems and focuses on specialty issues such as memory problems, safety in the home, healthy aging, proper medications and end-of-life concerns.
He sees the Internet playing a growing role in the health information field.
"Patients and their families want and expect the most up-to-date information about life, health, disease and death. Healthy aging as a concept has grown quickly over the last 20 years as we have all lived longer and hopefully better," he says. "I expect that Mayo Clinic will be a significant part of this growing movement of a healthy maturity."
Dr. Takahashi, a native of Pittsfield, Ill., joined Mayo Clinic in 1998 and is board certified in internal medicine with added qualification in geriatric medicine. He is a fellow of the American Geriatrics Society.
Treatments and drugs (2)
- High-frequency hearing loss: Can hearing aids help?
- Cochlear implants: Who are they for?
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Question
High-frequency hearing loss: Can hearing aids help?
Years ago, I was diagnosed with high-frequency hearing loss and told that hearing aids probably wouldn't help. With all the new technology in hearing aids, am I a candidate now?
Answer
from Paul Y. Takahashi, M.D.
Yes. In recent years, hearing aid manufacturers have made great strides in developing hearing aids that are more effective for all types of hearing loss — including high-frequency hearing loss.
The advent of digital technology has resulted in significant hearing aid improvements. Other types of hearing aids now also work well for high-frequency hearing loss.
- Digital hearing aids can be adjusted to match an individual's unique hearing loss. With digital hearing aids, a computer chip converts incoming sounds into digital code and then analyzes and adjusts the signal based on your specific needs as revealed by your hearing test. The signals are then converted back into sound waves and delivered to your ears. The result is sound that's more finely tuned to your hearing loss.
- Open-fit hearing aids — which leave your ear canal at least partially open — have become popular for high-frequency hearing loss. Open-fit hearing aids allow low- and mid-frequency sounds into the ear normally, so that only high-frequency sounds are amplified.
To find the best hearing aid for your situation, make an appointment with an audiologist to have your hearing tested and to discuss your specific needs. Together, you can decide which features will be most helpful for your hearing loss.
Because it may take some time to get used to a hearing aid, most manufacturers allow at least a 30-day trial period during which you can try out the hearing aid and return it for a refund if you're not satisfied.
Next questionCochlear implants: Who are they for?
- Weber PC. Hearing amplification in adults. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed Aug. 6, 2012.
- Flint PW, et al. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-323-05283-2..X0001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-323-05283-2&uniqId=230100505-57. Accessed Aug. 6, 2012.
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