Hearing in Noisy Places

Article submitted by Andy Tubertini, Audiologist, H.E.A.R. Inc. For further information, please call 251-970-5430.

When you are in a noisy place, like a restaurant or a shopping mall, it can be a great challenge to focus on what people are saying. It certainly would be nice to have hearing aids that could help focus for you in these situations. Such hearing aids actually exist, and they provide a clear advantage in a difficult listening situation. This result is best achieved by the use of directional microphones. Typically, these instruments give you far more control over how your hearing aids function in a particular environment. With a directional hearing aid, you can switch between two different listening programs, one for everyday use and the other for directing your listening to speech in a noisy surrounding. Directional microphones essentially focus on sounds coming from in front, and diminish sounds coming from behind. When you are in a situation where you want to hear the speaker in front of you most clearly, the directional program is ideal. By pressing a button or switch on the hearing aid, the instrument protects you from background noise that would otherwise drown out the speech. In fact, some of the more advanced digital hearing aids will monitor the environment and automatically switch into directional mode when the noise and patterns of sounds reach or exceed a certain level. By constantly adapting to varying sound sources and changes in the environment, such instruments allow you to enjoy listening and conversation without having to adjust your hearing aids. Many digital instruments also use some type of noise reduction circuit paired with directional microphones to give maximum comfort and speech clarity even in noisy environments. The great news is that directional microphones are now available in smaller instruments, even canal style aids, and also in lower priced hearing aids such as entry-level digital instruments. Our patients repeatedly tell us that directional microphones help them to hear better in noisy places. Contact your Audiologist to consult about Directional Microphones and determine if they are right for your hearing loss.