A hearing health care professional is critical for your health — and overall well-being.

A proper diagnosis of your hearing is essential in order to determine treatment. Hearing loss cannot be self-diagnosed. A hearing screening — whether it be online or at a physician’s office — is just that, a screening. Further testing is always required, should you fail a screening. Sensorineural hearing loss is the most prevalent and permanent form of loss that we see in our patients. Conductive hearing loss is another, caused by fluid buildup in the ear due to ear infections, viruses, or even impacted earwax. Other causes are more severe and require immediate care, such as a tumor or growth.

Once your hearing loss has been accurately diagnosed by a licensed professional, it’s time to consider hearing aids. Hearing aids are not a “fit and forget” type of device. For example, we cannot treat buying hearing aids like buying a car. When working with a professional, hearing aids become a long-term solution that involves personalization and adjustments over time.

Get to know and trust in the expertise of the professional you’re working with. This will be an ongoing relationship that evolves and grows as your hearing, lifestyle, and environment changes. If you used to be an elementary school teacher and made a career switch to become a lawyer, your devices’ settings will need to be adjusted and reconfigured to better assist you in your new listening environment.

Hearing aids are not a one-size-fits-all solution. You may have a friend who loves and swears by their brand of hearing aids, but when you try them, they don’t work as well for your ears. And that’s okay. There are many different manufacturers — ensure that your hearing professional is well-versed in more than one to give you the best hearing aid for your unique loss.

Unfortunately, many people have come into our office struggling to hear with the listening devices prescribed for them. They are frustrated with their devices and on the brink of giving up hope that they could actually help. They are often wearing inferior devices; either underpowered or overpowered for them. If a device is underpowered, the person is not receiving enough power to be able to hear sounds around them. If a device is overpowered, a person will be experiencing lots of feedback or whistling, but no clarity of speech. If the fit is not exact, sound cannot be delivered properly, causing what one hears to become distorted.

At Kubick and Kubick Inc., we take the time to get to know our patients personally. We consider their day-to-day activities and recommend a device that would best aid them in achieving that lifestyle to the fullest. Together, we create realistic expectations and goals, and work to reach them.