Hearing Aid Care and Maintenance Video Links

Below are videos direct from the manufacturer websites that will help you with the basic care and maintenance of your hearing aid(s) from home. Click on the links below to be sent to the manufacturer websites where the videos are posted. All the information, videos and trademarks are that of the manufacturer or what is otherwise stated. Unsure of the manufacturer of your hearing aid(s)? Check your invoices, accessories or the boxes given to you and there should be a logo or a name somewhere visible.

For hearing aid(s) that are Unitron or Phonak: https://www.unitron.com/content/unitron/id/en/consumer/help/tutorial-videos.html

For hearing aid(s) that are Starkey: https://www.starkey.com/support/how-to-videos

For hearing aid(s) that are Signia: https://www.signia-hearing.com/how-to-videos/

For hearing aid(s) that are Oticon or Bernafon: https://www.oticon.com/support https://www.bernafon.ca/support

For hearing aid(s) that are Widex: https://global.widex.com/en/support/maintenance

For hearing aid(s) that are GN ReSound: https://www.resound.com/en-ca/help/hearing-aids/other/videos

Footnotes Unitron.(2020). How to care for your Unitron hearing aids. Retrieved from https://www.unitron.com/content/unitron/id/en/consumer/help/tutorial-videos.html, accessed on March 18, 2020 Starkey.(2020). How to videos. Retrieved from https://www.starkey.com/support/how-to-videos, , accessed on March 18, 2020 Oticon.(2020). Oticon hearing aid support. Retrieved from https://www.oticon.com/support, accessed on March 18, 2020 Bernafon.(2020). Support: tips for new users. Retrieved from https://www.bernafon.ca/support, accessed on March 18, 2020 Widex.(2020). Hearing aid maintenance. Retrieved from https://global.widex.com/en/support/maintenance GN Hearing.(2020). Hearing aid support videos. Retrieved from https://www.resound.com/en-ca/help/hearing-aids/other/videos, accessed on March 18, 2020

COVID-19 Preventative Measures

Sandra DeKok joins The Hearing & Dizziness Clinic

We are pleased to announce that audiologist Sandra DeKok has joined our staff at The Hearing & Dizziness Clinic.

Sandra will be working with newborns, infants, children and adults at our Essex location.

To schedule an appointment with Sandra please call Melissa at (519) 961-9285 or email melissa@youhear.ca

Group Workshops

We are excited to be offering group workshops at our Essex and Amherstburg locations! There is a lot of information given to you at your hearing aid fitting appointment, which can make it a little overwhelming at times. A group workshop is an hour long session where our hearing health professionals go over details about your hearing loss, your new hearing aids and aural rehabilitation or retraining your brain to understand speech.

So what does a group workshop look like? The groups are small – usually between 3 and 4 participants, which allows us to support each person and answer any questions throughout. The hour is broken up into three sections:

1. Hearing Loss

2. Hearing Aids

3. Aural Rehabilitation

Hearing Loss

We give participants detailed information regarding how our ears work, what the participants’ hearing test results indicate, fun facts about hearing and our ears and more information about hearing loss overall. This portion of the workshop gives participants answers to the questions that they may have been pondering regarding their own hearing loss.

Hearing Aids

When people come in to pick up their hearing aids, the amount of information presented in that appointment can feel quite overwhelming. Participating in the group workshop allows hearing aid users to gain more knowledge on the care, use, features and functions of their hearing aids. Having only 3-4 participants allows us to go over information regarding each person’s hearing aids, in order to help them better understand their use.

Aural Rehabilitation

Hearing aids are only one piece of the puzzle. In order to maximize the benefit of new hearing aids, we have to work on retraining our brains to hear in difficult listening situations. Typically, we lose our hearing slowly over time and while hearing aids give us back the sounds we are missing, we still have to do therapy to retrain our brains how to process and understand these new sounds. In our group workshop, we provide a demonstration of one of the computer-based training programs that we offer. The program is called LACE and it stands for Listening and communication enhancement. We’ll go over what the program entails and how the program can benefit everyone – regardless of what type of hearing loss they may have.

Group workshops allow our patients to learn more about their hearing loss, hearing aids and different communication strategies, as well as meet other people who also have new hearing aids.

Aural Rehabilitation Program

People are shocked when I tell them that their hearing aids are not going to solve all of their listening problems. Hearing aids give you back the sounds that you’ve been missing, but they do not train your brain to hear, especially in noisy situations. I recommend that my patient’s complete rehabilitation when they get hearing aids or a cochlear implant. When you break a leg, you often go to therapy with physiotherapy to regain function. Function will never be 100%, but if you want the best outcome therapy will increase your function. The same can be said for your hearing. You will never hear 100%, but the therapy will improve how you function in quiet and noisy situations.

We offer two different programs that can be completed in our office under the supervision of our audiologist or speech-language pathologist, or if you prefer, once we’ve set you up, you can complete the program from the comfort of your own home.

The basic program consists of 11 classes. The objective is to increase your hearing and speech understanding in difficult listening situations. The total cost of the program is $500.00 ($300.00 if you purchased your hearing aids from one of our clinics), but if you will be completing the program on your own at home the cost is $100.00.

Our advanced program consists of 24 sessions. The objective is to increase your hearing and speech understanding in difficult listening situations, but instead of using the pre-recorded voice for training, we can use the voice of a loved one, the person in your life that you have the most difficulty hearing. The total cost of the advance program is $1,070.00, but if you will be completing the program on your own at home the cost is $150.00.  If you want us to help you customize the program by adding the voice of a loved one, there is an extra cost. The cost for customized voice will vary based on the number of sessions it takes for us to complete the recordings.

These classes are perfect for:

• individuals with normal hearing but suffer from auditory processing disorders,
• individuals with normal hearing but have trouble hearing in noise,
• first time hearing aid users,
• long term hearing aid users who struggle in noise and
• cochlear implant users

You can take these courses, even if you purchased your hearing aids elsewhere. We do not want to sell you hearing aids, we want to help you hear at your best.

If you have insurance that covers speech-language pathology or audiology, part or all of the above charges may be covered by your insurance plan. If you do not have insurance, you can claim the cost of the course as a medical expense when you do your taxes.

If you would like for us to check your coverage with your insurance plan on your behalf, please contact:

Essex: Melissa at (519) 961-9285 or email Melissa@YouHear.ca

Amherstburg: Marlene at (519) 730-1030 or email Marlene@YouHear.ca