Getting hearing aids is an exciting adventure. All hearing aids pick up and amplify sound to help you understand speech, but that isn’t their only perk.
While hearing aids differ based on manufacturer and style, each has advanced features to make your life easier. Let’s take a look at five helpful features you might not know about.
1. Tinnitus Masking
More than 50 million people in the United States have tinnitus. Many hearing aids have a tinnitus masking feature that produces calming sounds to distract the brain from the internal ringing.
Even hearing aids without a specific tinnitus setting can help. By amplifying external noises, the devices provide your brain with auditory stimuli, potentially stopping it from producing its own noise in the form of tinnitus.
2. Bluetooth®
Hearing aids have Bluetooth that connects to smart devices like laptops, phones and even smart TVs. You can stream music through them while enjoying a fall latte at DOJO Coffee Shop, take virtual meetings on your computer and bring the dialogue to your ears during home movie nights.
3. AI Volume Adjustments
The AI (artificial intelligence) in hearing aids analyzes your environment and makes real-time adjustments to the volume settings. With AI-enabled hearing aids, you can enjoy clear sound whether you’re at the library or mingling with a few friends at a dinner party.
AI adjustments are automatic, so you shouldn’t need to turn on any features in your companion app. If you’re considering getting new hearing aids, talk to your specialist about how AI improves sound quality in the models you’re considering.
4. Telecoils (T-Coils)
Some public spaces, like churches, theaters and lecture halls, use loop systems to broadcast signals. A telecoil is a wire in your hearing aids that allows you to connect to those loop systems. Once you connect to the system, your hearing aids will convert the signals into sound you can understand.
5. Fitness Tracking
Fitness features in hearing aids vary by device but may include heart rate tracking, step counting and activity monitoring. Fitness tracking isn’t available in every new hearing aid model, so you should tell your specialist if you’re interested so they can make personalized recommendations.
If you’re ready for your first hearing aids or looking for an upgrade, contact Today’s Hearing today to schedule an appointment with one of our specialists.