Hearing Resources

At Vineyard Audiology, we consider ourselves to be your partner on your hearing journey.

We work with you to make sure you understand your hearing loss and your options for treatment. It’s important to us that you have all the information you need to make a decision. You should always feel empowered and confident about your hearing treatment.

We are also very enthusiastic about educating our patients and their families about what to expect from hearing aids and how they can communicate better around hearing loss. While you can’t cure hearing loss, you can learn to work around it and have better results in your day-to-day life.

Hearing Related Stories from Local Media

• Research Potentially Widens Scope of Vineyard’s Historic Deaf Community
• A Maine Camp for Deaf Children Carries On After an Unthinkable Loss
• Alexander Graham Bell’s visit to the Vineyard in 1885 to study the Chilmark deaf community sparks a debate on use of sign language or the spoken word.

Hearing Related Stories from Global and National News

• How Hearing and Vision Loss Increase the Risk of Dementia

What’s the best solution for my hearing loss?

That depends on what kind of hearing loss you have. If you have conductive hearing loss, that means something is blocking sound from your ears, and either we’ll treat it ourselves (if it’s earwax that we can remove for you) or we’ll refer you to a physician for medical care.

If you have sensorineural hearing loss, hearing aids can help not only by amplifying the sound but also by processing what you hear to make it easier for your brain to understand it.

Won’t hearing aids make me look old?

We treat patients of all ages with hearing loss because it’s not just something that happens when you get older. However, if you have developed hearing loss as a symptom of aging, you’ll seem and feel younger if you get your hearing loss treated. Most people probably won’t even see that you’re wearing hearing aids. They’ll just notice that you can hear them and understand them without having to ask them to repeat themselves.

Other than hearing aids, what can I do to help myself hear better?

We will counsel you on small changes you can make that will put you in a better position to hear and understand what people say to you. Communication counseling is a big part of what we offer to help our patients out. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to hearing better, but we can work with you to find strategies that will be effective for you.

Be aware of your listening environment. It’s important to think about room acoustics and what’s going on around you. Is there background noise? Are there high ceilings? If you’re in a restaurant, are you seated somewhere where there will be a lot of reverberation adding to the noise level? Be active in choosing where to sit and what you do.

Position yourself to succeed with conversations. If you’re talking with someone, make sure you can see their face. Understanding what people say will always be harder if you’re not in the same room or even on the same floor as they are. Ask the people you talk with to help you accommodate your hearing loss.

How can I take better care of my hearing aids?

This is a great question because regular maintenance of your hearing aids can make them work better for longer. One of our biggest concerns here on the island is humidity, which can be really hard on your hearing aids. We have to manage it as best we can. Often we recommend desiccants or Dri Aid kits, which we can help provide. When you take your hearing aids out overnight, don’t store them in the bathroom, which is even more humid than everywhere else. If your hearing aids are rechargeable, don’t forget to stick them in the charger! Try to wipe down your hearing aids every day when you take them out, and clean out the wax on a regular basis. We’re also happy to help with routine cleaning once a month or so if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself.

Hearing loss doesn’t just affect one person. It can affect an entire family! We’re glad you want to help and be supportive of the person you love. If you’re part of your loved one’s hearing team, everybody will have a better experience and better results.

• Come to their hearing appointments with them. This way, you’ll understand their specific hearing loss and what they struggle with when we explain their results. You’ll also have a chance to share your perspective about their hearing loss, which can be another data point as we try to decide the best plan for treatment.
• Remember that communication is not a one-way street. They’re doing their part by seeking help with their hearing loss. But you also have to work to communicate better, too. Don’t expect them to hear you from across the house. Make things easier by coming closer and being in sight when you have a conversation.
• Be patient and understanding. It can take a little while to get used to hearing aids, and it can be frustrating and difficult for someone to realize when they can’t hear as well anymore. Remember that your loved one is trying hard. Encourage them to keep trying, and celebrate with them when things go well.
• Have realistic expectations. Even with hearing aids, your loved one won’t hear the same way they used to. Hearing aids will make a big difference, but they aren’t a miracle cure.
• Help keep track of how to care for hearing aids. There can be a lot to remember, from how to insert hearing aids to how to keep them clean. We will go over maintenance with your loved one and with you, so you can help remind them if they get overwhelmed.