Technology marches on

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – technology is an incredible thing.

The world of hearing aids, particularly in recent years, seems to know no bounds. A lot of medical devices that once were only seen as ‘necessary’ are actually becoming ‘desirable’. I never thought I’d see the day when the partners of my patients would admit they’d quite like a pair of hearing aids just for the features!

What can they do?

We’re all used to smartwatches and trackers these days but manufacturers are looking at what else they offer a hearing aid user. With all the features you would expect in terms of sound quality, connectivity and performance, many of the latest hearing aids also:

• Track your daily steps and activity levels
• Allow you to set reminders, for example to take medication
• Link with your voice assistant (Siri, Google Assistant) to check the weather, get directions, play music
• Translate to another language in real time
• Detect falls and then send an alert chosen contacts
• Come with apps to give you even more ways to personalise and enhance your hearing health experience
• Can be fine-tuned by your audiologist remotely if you are unable to come to clinic in person

These are just a few of the features that today’s devices offer patients – hearing aid or covetable piece of tech? It’s hard to tell! If you would like to explore some of the options then do make an appointment. You can do this by calling, emailing or completing the form on the website.

Back to work?

It seems that now Autumn has arrived, many of my patients are heading back to the office rather than working from home. I’ve heard so many positive stories about seeing colleagues you have missed but some of you are missing conversations.

If you are struggling with your hearing in some work situations, such as meetings, then I can help. Take a look back at February’s blog for a brief overview on some of the technology that works with your hearing aids in those tricky listening environments.

Whether it’s group meetings, an open-plan office or a phone system that isn’t quite set up for you, there will be something we can try that might just make the difference. Check out February blog here:

Coming up

Next month I shall be shining the spotlight on tinnitus, one of the core areas that we specialise in here at Peter Byrom Audiology. I will also be letting you know about some exciting changes that are afoot so stay tuned!

As always, look after yourselves and I look forward to seeing you soon. Get in touch with me for an appointment today!

Peter