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Background Noise
Virtually all patients wearing
hearing aids complain about background noise at one time
or another. There is no way to completely eliminate background
noise.
Remember, when you had normal hearing there were still times
when background noise was a problem. It is no different now,
even with properly fit hearing
aids! The good news is there are circuits and features
that help to reduce (or minimize) background noise and other
unwanted sounds. In fact, there are research findings that
demonstrate digital hearing aids with particular circuit and
microphone options can effectively reduce background noises.
Please speak with your audiologist about this.
Many early digitally programmable (and even some digital)
circuits, which claimed to reduce or eliminate background
noise, actually filtered out low frequency sounds. This indeed
made the sounds appear quieter, however, not only was the
background noise made quieter, but so too, was the signal
(the speech sound).
Newer ways to reduce background noise are based on timing
and amplitude cues and other noise processing strategies,
which 100% digital hearing
aids can incorporate. These methods work, but are not
perfect. Directional microphones are available and are useful
as they help to focus the amplification in front of you, or
towards the origin of the sound source. Directional hearing
aids can offer a better signal-to-noise ratio in difficult
listening situations by reducing a little bit of the noise
from the sides or behind you. In most 100% digital
hearing aids, the noise control features help make noise
more tolerable, but do not completely eliminate the noise.
The best and most efficient way to eliminate or reduce background
noise is through the use of FM technology. Please speak with
your audiologist about
this.
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