Remember the days of bulky, awkward hearing aids with batteries that were always dying and with feedback levels that were frequently a source of major aggravation? My children’s grandfather often relegated his earpiece to his front shirt pocket because he found the device to be more troublesome than it was worth. He was not alone in his frustration.
However, those days are past, according to husband-and-wife team Derrick and Nancy Woods, owners and operators of Holy City Hearing. They are happy to report: “New hearing aid technology has greatly improved not only the ability to hear and easily manage these devices but also the quality of life for those who suffer from the social and emotional effects of hearing loss.”
The Woods team knows firsthand the effects of hearing loss on daily life. Derrick has suffered with his own hearing deficit since he was an infant. He has made it his personal mission to become an expert on the best new products on the market for his clientele by personally wearing and experiencing each of the products that Holy City Hearing sells. As a result, he has a natural ability to interpret a patient’s needs and requests into successful fittings for each individual.
Nancy brings valuable understanding and empathy for family members who have struggled with a loved-one’s hearing loss. Providing excellent service is Holy City Hearing’s mission.
Modern hearing aids are considerably smaller and more discreet than their predecessors. They have Bluetooth connectivity, which allows phone calls to stream directly to the hearing aids and frees patients to manage and control their devices through the app on their phones. More importantly, today’s improved hearing aids process faster to produce far better sound management and increased clarity. Wearers can hear conversations more clearly, even in noisy environments.
According to Woods, “This is critical for those struggling to follow or participate in conversations when several people are speaking at once or there is too much noise in the background. Otherwise, the hyper-concentration required to listen and respond appropriately can be emotionally exhausting, causing wearers to simply choose to disengage and self-isolate.”
Technology also has solved the problem of hearing aid batteries dying at inopportune times. Wearers can now choose rechargeable hearing aids that are simply set in a charging station each night. In the morning, the hearing aids are totally charged for a full day’s use.
Perhaps most impressive is the fact that today’s addition of artificial intelligence allows a hearing aid to offer a variety of other features, including brain and body-health tracking; personal assistance; streaming phone calls, music and podcasts; recording grocery lists; and sending out fall alerts to as many as three people. Language translation, including transcribing conversations, also is possible.
“Livio Edge AI,” a Starkey hearing aid, carries this new technology and is one of the several products offered at Holy City Hearing.
Worldwide, 446 million people suffer from hearing loss, but Derrick and Nancy Woods are optimistic. They fully agree with Starkey founder Bill Austin: “It is possible to change the world, one person at a time, with this new, life-altering hearing-aid technology.”
For more information on Holy City Hearing, located in Mount Pleasant and Summerville, visit Derrick and Nancy Woods at www.holycityhearing.com or call 843-388-4853.
