At FitHearing, we are proud to offer telehealth through ReSound Assist. Hearing aids are the most effective way to assist those with hearing loss. Those who are already wearing hearing aids know just how much they can improve our lives once hearing loss becomes an issue. Contemporary hearing aids do much more than simply amplify sound. They can boost speech while reducing background sound, help with spatial location, seamlessly change programs as we move through different environments, and in some cases restore hearing ability in a crowd to that of a normal-hearing 20-year-old.
For all the wonderful things that hearing aids can do to help us hear better, they still involve an adjustment period. When asked after one year, about 95% of people say they are satisfied with their hearing aids, but there can be some frustration involved in getting used to wearing them, especially in the first few weeks.
What Is Fitment?
“Fitment” is what we call the process of programming your hearing aids for your specific hearing needs. An initial fitment is based on the results of your hearing test. While this is a great starting point, it doesn’t account for the fact that we hear as much with our brains as with our ears. No two people have the same hearing loss, or the same experience of their hearing loss. For this reason, it’s typical that fitment will need to be readjusted throughout the first few weeks you’re wearing a new set of hearing aids, especially if you’ve never worn hearing aids before.
It may be that your hearing aids feel too loud at first, or that there is too much high-frequency information. It may be that the level of background noise is too high or too soft. It could even be that the dynamic range compression is working too hard, or not hard enough. If some of this sounds a bit technical, not to worry. As long as you can explain the problem you’re experiencing, our FitHearing Audiology Network professionals can use the many tools at their disposal to help you get more out of your hearing aids.
Traditionally, fitment adjustments required a visit to the office. Patients may have needed to return a few times, whenever they sensed that something could be better about the way their hearing aids were working. While those who wish to make visits to the office are still welcome to do so, there is now another way to have your fitment adjusted without having to leave the comfort of your home, or take time away from work.
TeleHealth Has Become Popular
Especially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, TeleHealth practices have become very important to maintaining social distancing while also providing patients with the fitment adjustments they require. ReSound Assist has helped us to make more patients happier with their hearing aids in less time than ever before, while also maintaining safe distances during the pandemic.
ReSound Assist continues to be a monumental development in audiology, even as more people get vaccinated and the pandemic becomes less of a risk to many of us.
How Does ReSound Assist Work?
ReSound Assist is found inside the ReSound Smart 3D app, which can be installed on a smartphone, tablet or computer. By connecting your hearing aids to your smartphone or other device via Bluetooth, you can use the ReSound Smart 3D app to make any adjustments you’ll ever need to make to your hearing aids, all painlessly and wirelessly. Inside ReSound Assist, you can request fitment updates that can then be downloaded and installed to your hearing aids through their Bluetooth connection. If you’re not sure what you need, you can call us to make a TeleHealth appointment. At the appointed time, we’ll video-call you through the Smart 3D app, where you can talk to us about what’s going on with your hearing aids, and we can actually make adjustments to them in real time, just as though you’d come to the office!
There’s an added advantage to using ReSound Assist to make your fitment adjustments. When these adjustments are made in the office, it may not sound quite the same as when you’re out in the real world. By making the fitment adjustments from wherever you like, more patients are able to tell right away whether the new fitment is working for them.
ReSound Assist has been an overwhelming hit with hearing aid wearers all over the world. If you think you might need hearing aids, make an appointment for a hearing test and find out what hearing aids and ReSound Assist can do to improve your life today!
