{"id":1121,"date":"2021-10-14T15:30:09","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T21:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/?p=1121"},"modified":"2021-10-14T15:30:18","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T21:30:18","slug":"how-hearing-aids-can-help-you-better-understand-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/how-hearing-aids-can-help-you-better-understand-sound\/","title":{"rendered":"How Hearing Aids Can Help You Better Understand Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you are <a href=\"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/audiologist\/hearing-loss-testing\/\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/audiologist\/hearing-loss-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">experiencing hearing loss,<\/a> one of the first things you might notice is that you have a harder time following conversations. It\u2019s not that you don\u2019t hear people talking, but you struggle to make out the words they are saying. This may be especially true if you are out at a busy caf\u00e9 or restaurant like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.secondsetbistro.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Second Set Bistro<\/a> or somewhere else with a lot of background noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other instances where it may be hard to hear include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Talking to people on the phone<\/li><li>Watching TV<\/li><li>Understanding children\u2019s and women\u2019s voices<\/li><li>Listening to music<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2>Hearing Loss and High Frequency Sound <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"814\" src=\"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/iStock-882101238-1280x814.jpg\" alt=\"Friends enjoying a dinner party.\" class=\"wp-image-1123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/iStock-882101238-1280x814.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/iStock-882101238-768x488.jpg 768w, https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/iStock-882101238-1536x977.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/iStock-882101238-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>If you feel like you are hearing but not understanding conversations, there\u2019s a good chance you might be experiencing high-frequency sensorineural hearing loss. This type of hearing loss becomes more common as we age and makes softer, higher-pitched sounds harder to hear. Your ability to hear lower-pitched sounds can remain relatively the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>Speech Recognition and Hearing Loss<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In speech, vowel sounds are lower in pitch while consonant sounds are higher. What this means is that when someone is talking it is likely that you can hear the vowel sounds clearly, but the consonant sounds are harder to distinguish. This can leave you struggling to follow the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5763132\/#B1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2017 study<\/a> tested the ability of 65 hearing loss patients and 11 normal-hearing individuals to comprehend time-compressed (sped up) speech. They found that those with hearing loss had worse speech recognition scores than those with normal hearing, and that the ability to recognize speech worsened as the hearing loss was more severe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>Why Hearing Aid Treatment is Important<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The amount of effort it takes to simply hear a sound versus understanding the sound is significant, even for people with normal hearing. If you experience any degree of hearing loss the effort is that much greater. This can make you feel fatigued and, in some cases, cause you to cut back or avoid social interactions because you\u2019re afraid you won\u2019t be able to follow the conversation. This can lead to loneliness, social isolation and a lower quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thankfully,<a href=\"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/audiologist\/benefits-of-hearing-aids\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> hearing aids<\/a> can help you regain your ability to follow conversations. They can amplify the higher-frequency sounds that you currently struggle to hear. This means your brain doesn\u2019t have to work as hard to try and fill in the gaps and follow conversations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hearing aids are programmed to meet your individual needs and renew your confidence to successfully communicate with those around you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more about hearing aids or to schedule an appointment contact Western Montana Hearing and Speech today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><ul class=\"related-posts\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/the-connection-between-loud-noise-exposure-and-hypertension\/\" class=\"related-post\">The Connection Between Loud Noise Exposure and Hypertension<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/fall-hearing-aid-care-tips-for-the-changing-season\/\" class=\"related-post\">Fall Hearing Aid Care: Tips for the Changing Season<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/the-importance-of-custom-earplugs-for-protecting-your-hearing\/\" class=\"related-post\">The Importance of Custom Earplugs for Protecting Your Hearing<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are experiencing hearing loss, one of the first things you might notice is that you have a harder time following conversations. It\u2019s not that you don\u2019t hear people talking, but you struggle to make out the words they are saying. This may be especially true if you are out at a busy caf\u00e9&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Hearing aids are programmed to meet your individual needs and help you to communicate with those around you.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1121"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1129,"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121\/revisions\/1129"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmontanahearingandspeech.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}