When you and the audiologist have determined the style that suits your needs, the hearing aid will have to be fitted to your ear and the electronics will be programmed to your hearing loss. This ensures that the hearing aid will be comfortable, will fit properly, and will properly amplify sound for your needs.

For most hearing aids, to get an exact fit, the audiologist will make an impression of your ear canal by injecting a small amount of soft silicone material into it. This is a painless process that only takes a few minutes. The hardened silicone pulls out easily. The resulting mold is either shipped to the hearing aid manufacturer overnight or digitally scanned in our office and sent electronically the same day. Once the finished hearing aid is mailed back to our office, you will be notified to return for the fitting.

The most important part of the fitting process is the programming of the hearing aids to your hearing loss. The start of this process uses your hearing test to program the hearing aids. Once this initial programming is completed, the settings are verified by measuring the output of the aids against an acoustic standard (target) while the aids are worn. This procedure is called REAL EAR MEASUREMENT and provides the best way to verify the aids are set properly. After the initial programming, patients return in one week to ten days for fine tuning. Once this initial programming, the hearing aids are then inserted into a special device that measures if your hearing aids are actually amplifying each frequency to the desired targets. Finally, the hearing aids are tested with you wearing them and adjusted to your needs. In some people this final adjustment process can be done in a single day, but not infrequently, there are several adjustments that are made in order to get them to an optimal setting. At each visit, your audiologist will check that the hearing aids are properly programmed and working correctly. Finally, additional hearing tests will be done to check your hearing with the aids inserted, to be sure that you can hear properly. Adjustments will be made as needed.