On Mon, 8 Apr 1996, Bill and Nancy LaFramboise wrote:

> Your query brought to mind an editorial by Eldon Greij in Birders World,
> February 1993. He had several comments which may be of help to you. He
> talked about digital hearing aides which may be the kind my dad just got
> (Belltone). They amplify only the ranges of hearing that have been lost
> instead of amplifying everything.

Nancy--

All hearing aids are designed to amplify only the lost freqs.
They test them regularly on this little machine that prints out
a graph of the amplifier performance that should match the
graph of the hearing exam for the person with the loss..


The only problem my dad has had is
> getting used to hearing so much. I guess the brain needs time to relearn
> what to filter out & ignore.
>
That's exactly right...the first week or so with mine nearly
drove me nuts until my brain suppressed the ambient noise..

Note:

with hearing aids, it's a question of power..the digital ones
are a great boost for someone with a loss, but nothing, and I
mean nothing, replaces the lost range...I think about this
when I hear the kids going down the street with *Whump! ba-
dump!!* blasting out of their cars with all the windows
rolled up...sustainable damage can occur with exposure to
85 db's or above for as little as 15 minutes..
the guy that fitted me told me over half his practice is
now kids in their late teens...sighh-hhh...

Tom