The Joy of Sound

If you can’t get to Hearing Health Centers, they’ll bring their state-of-the-art equipment to you.

By: Ken McEntee
Date: 06/03/2008
Louder doesn’t always mean clearer. You’ve probably learned that lesson if you’ve purchased one of those personal sound amplifiers they sell at the closeout stores. You know, the ones with earphones that are supposed to let you watch TV without disturbing your sleeping sweetie. That is until your new audio cure-all augments your sweetie’s snoring well in excess of the television volume.
Unfortunately, some older hearing aids bring the same results.

“The problem with many older hearing aids is that they amplify pretty much every sound, not just the ones you want to hear,” says Bob Heiser, founder of Hearing Health Centers. “That means background noises you don’t want to hear are made louder along with the human voices you do want to hear.”

Hear ye! Hear ye!

If crisp, distinct sound is what you want, you may want to listen to this: Hearing Health Centers offers the latest hearing aids that can restore conversations, music and other sounds that have been missing from your life.

“Technology is changing fast,” insists Bob, a nationally board-certified hearing instrument specialist. “Better noise reduction is available than it was even a year ago. It cuts out the background noise for a much clearer sound. Today’s high-tech hearing aids are 100-percent digital, fully automatic, and self-adjusting with 24-channel noise reduction.”

Digital technology has allowed major advances in hearing aid quality in recent years.
“Many of today’s digital hearing aids are both small and programmable with self-adjusting channels,” Bob explains. “That means we can fit a patient with a precisely programmed model, customized for their hearing profile.”

And they look a lot better than the older models do, too. New technology has made them smaller and less visible, so even younger patients don’t mind wearing them.

How does this sound? Bob is now offering zero-percent financing for 18 months on all hearing aids.

“A lot of people don’t think they can afford the hearing aid they need, so they get a cheaper one,” Bob says.
“With zero-percent financing, correct hearing is even more affordable. There is no reason to settle for the wrong hearing aid.”

Because they sell hundreds of different products, from over 32 manufacturers, Hearing Health Centers doesn’t have to try to force fit its customers from the limited selection offered by a single manufacturer like many chain stores do.

“That’s the secret to creating a good match between the specific type of hearing loss a patient has and a hearing aid that will work for them,” Bob explains. “There are both large and small differences between brands that make the difference between a poor match and a highly successful match.”

Matching you up with the right hearing aid is not only easy at Hearing Health Centers, but it also is free. If you are at least 50 years old, Hearing Health Centers will give you a hearing test at no charge. According to Bob, millions of Americans suffer from some form of hearing loss and don’t know it. Further, they are experiencing losses at earlier ages.

He says that’s because young people, beginning in the 1960s, started to expose their ears to loud, amplified music. Plus, long-term exposure to deafening power equipment, like lawn mowers, chain saws and weed trimmers, is bad for our hearing, too.

“Many people have their eyes checked annually, but haven’t had their hearing checked in years,” Bob says. “People over 50 should have their hearing checked every year and those under 50 should come in every few years. Hearing loss usually slips up on us very slowly unless you’re exposed to a high-decibel sound that can cause instant damage. Our mission is about more than hearing loss. It’s about hearing health.”

Along with prescription hearing aids, Hearing Health Centers also offers a variety of non-prescription listening devices, like “TV ears” that plug into the television’s headphone jack. A humidity box in which to store your hearing aid is a good investment, Bob suggests.

“Humidity kills hearing aids,” he says.

Bob offers a lifetime service warranty on hearing aids, meaning he’ll check, clean and program your hearing aid forever—for free. In addition, he’ll add an extra year to the manufacturer’s warranty on all hearing aids.
Hearing Health Centers also takes pride in providing a high level of service, a trait rooted in the company’s culture since its founding in 1992.

You can go to them or they’ll come to you.
“About one-fourth of our service happens in-home and we’re also the exclusive provider for 16 different area nursing homes, senior homes and centers,” Bob says. “Everything we can provide here in the store is portable, so we can help people where they are most comfortable.”

During your free exam, the Hearing Health Centers staff will examine your ears with a special video camera that displays the inside of your ear on a monitor so you can see it, too. During the hearing test, a specialist will deliver sounds of varying frequencies and decibels to determine the range of pitches and volumes you can hear. They’ll fill a prescription for your particular hearing loss and you will get to hear what the aids will sound like before you make your purchase.

Because of Bob’s independent selection, he offers models that can be programmed on the spot so you can walk out with your hearing aid in a single visit. Plus, there is a 30-day refund policy if you’re not completely satisfied.

After being fitted with a hearing aid, many patients are astonished.

“It’s like going to the country one night being totally blown away by seeing billions of stars that you never knew were there,” Bob says. “Sometimes patients will actually start crying because they can hear sounds they haven’t heard in years. I love it when a patient says that they haven’t heard the birds in so long they forgot how beautiful they sound. That’s why we do what we do.”

Hearing Health Centers is located at 754 N. Court Street, in Medina with other locations in Cuyahoga Falls and Middleburg Heights. To schedule either an in-office or in-home appointment, you can reach them toll-free at 1-800-916-1972. The centers’ hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays by appointment. You can get more information by visiting www.HearingHealthCenters.com.

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