Frequently Asked Questions

How do I determine if I am a hearing aid candidate?
The answer to this question is a question you must ask yourself …do you experience difficulty hearing and find yourself feeling stressed and straining to hear during your daily activities? Amplification can simply relieve the strain of hearing; it doesn’t always make sounds louder or even improve your understanding of speech. Relieving the stress and strain of listening alone can be a very significant benefit. Unselfishly examine whether you are becoming a burden to your family and friends, even if you do not personally recognize difficulty hearing. Wearing a hearing aid is not necessarily a mark of infirmary; rather it is a mark of courtesy to others.

Why does my voice sound so odd to me when wearing hearing aids?
Some hearing aid users report that they feel as if they are in a barrel or experiencing an echo when talking. This is called “the occlusion effect.” Normally, when your ear is unblocked and you are speaking, you hear yourself both through the air traveling through your ear canal, and through vibrations that you create in your skull and ear canal. When your ear is occluded or blocked, however, the amount of air traveling through your ear canal is reduced and the amount of vibrations created in your skull and ear canal is increased. Try this experiment. Hum aloud and then alternately plug and unplug one ear while still humming. Notice how the sound changes pitch and loudness in your plugged ear? This happens because the vibrations are blocked from their usual escape route. Most new users adapt to this effect and it isn’t a problem.

This a common external feedback produced by a leakage of amplified sound out of the ear canal and back into the microphone of the hearing aid. Feedback that occurs when the hearing aid is being inserted or removed or when your hand is cupped near the devices is common, and does not necessarily signal the need for action. If however, you experience feedback when you speak, chew, yawn, or change position, you need to consult your audiologist. Feedback is more likely to occur in smaller hearing devices because the microphone is closer to the area at which the sound comes out into the ear. A behind-the-ear style may be less likely to produce feedback than an in-the-canal style. Usually external feedback can be corrected by:

    * Properly reinserting the hearing aid or earmold
    * Remaking the earmold or hearing aid shell
    * Plugging, or reducing the diameter of any vents
    * Reducing the amount of high frequency amplification.

Typically this can be an unacceptable trade-off because of the effect it can have on the users ability to understand speech.

Adding a “lock” or “retention hook” to better hold the hearing aid in place so it won’t work its way out of your ear as you move your jaw or head.

Many digital hearing aid manufacturers have also introduced digital feedback reduction. Digital hearing aids with this feature, sense feedback and reduce the occurrence of the annoying whistling sound. Talk to your audiologist about adding this feature to your next pair of digital hearing aids.

Among the most frequent complaints from hearing aid users is that background noise is amplified too much and that certain sounds are too loud. If sound (speech or noise) exceeds either the saturation level (the maximum level the hearing aid can amplify without distortion) or your personal loudness discomfort level, distortion or discomfort will be the result. Digital hearing aids contain sensors that allow the hearing aid to detect sounds exceeding certain loudness levels, and then self-adjust to reduce the amplification (gain) for those sounds. Unfortunately, because noise is comprised of many of the same frequencies as speech, it is impossible to “shut out” noise without adversely affecting the quality of the speech signal. Fortunately, digital hearing aids allow audiologist to measure and control the maximum sound intensity that reaches your ear. This technology allows for adequate gain of soft sounds, while minimally (or not at all) amplifying loud input signals. Concerning background noise, new techniques using multiple microphones within the same hearing aid improve the listener’s ability to function in noisy environments. Even the most sophisticated hearing aids’ ability to clarify speech is limited to the degree of hearing loss.


How much time is needed to adapt to a hearing aid?
While each person’s experience will vary, hearing aids may allow a person to experience certain sounds they have never heard before (or at least for some time). Relearning takes place in the central auditory nervous system located in the brain and not in the ear itself. Recent experiments suggest that a listener’s ability to comprehend speech may continue to increase over a period of several months when wearing a new amplification system. This process is termed acclimatization. Kaczmarski Hearing Services offers a 60-day trial period or adjustment period with all new hearing aid fits for this reason.


Mail order companies and discount clubs advertise hearing aids that cost only a couple of hundred dollars. Why shouldn’t I buy my hearing aid from them?
Mail order and budget clubs can afford to sell hearing aids at lower prices for several reasons. Often the electronic components they use are inexpensive, generic circuits. Many regretful consumers find these generic circuits do not offer the benefits that circuits from reputable manufacturers, who have spent billions of dollars on researching the technology, can provide.

The hearing aids themselves are often placed on the user with minimal (or in cases of mail order) no instructions or fine-tuning adjustments. At Kaczmarski Hearing Services, only certified Audiologists are on staff. Each is university trained and has earned a Masters Degree and is experienced in all brands and technologies of hearing aids. Even the most independent do-it-yourself type of person can benefit from someone who really understands hearing loss and hearing aids. We average five direct contact hours during the adjustment period. It helps to have a qualified, reliable audiologist available during this critical learning period. They will help you decide which of the problems you are experiencing are related to the hearing aid itself, which will require adjustments of the aids, and which are related to relearning, requiring your brain more time to adjust.

Typically consumers who purchase through the mail or a budget club will be charged for any visit to their dispenser, including minor tubing changes and adjustments. In the long run the patient is likely to pay as much or even more.

Audiologists, like consumers, are concerned about keeping the cost of hearing aids affordable. We would love it if more people could benefit from hearing aids because communication is one of the most important skills humans possess. It is important to make an educated decision concerning your hearing loss and hearing aids. Hearing aids can offer significant benefits to those with hearing loss, more so than ever before. When purchasing a hearing aid try not to be driven by the cost of a hearing aid. Look at who you are working with, make sure you feel comfortable with the audiologist and company. Furthermore, remember the reason you are purchasing the hearing aid to begin with…. to better communicate with your family and friends.


How often must hearing aids be replaced?
With proper care and maintenance your hearing aids should give you many years of quality hearing enjoyment. Generally speaking, hearing aids should last for at least five years, but will start to wear out after about three. After this time, your hearing sensitivity may have changed, new and better technology is usually available, and the old hearing aids seem to always need repair. Hearing aids can be repaired, however, the older the hearing aid the costlier it becomes to repair it and it typically will continue to break down. If you are having any difficulty at all in hearing the things you want to hear, it is definitely time to try a set of new hearing aids.