Few people would doubt the level of precision that is required to be a Marine Corps Scout Sniper. If you ignore basic fundamentals of marksmanship or make one error in your calculations, you can miss your target completely.
This analogy may seem like a bit of a reach in relation to fitting hearing aids as an Audiologist, but the same principles apply. Research consistently reminds us of a fundamental procedure that must be performed with high-levels of precision when programming hearing aids for maximum benefit. This procedure is known as Real Ear Measurement.
Verifying Hearing Aid Fitting with Real Ear Measures
Real Ear Measurement is a verification procedure that measures if your hearing aids are programmed correctly to your hearing loss prescription. Without performing Real Ear Measurement, hearing care providers have no idea if your hearing aids are programmed properly for your level of hearing loss.
If you would like to know more about Real Ear Measures and why they are so critical for receiving benefit with hearing aids, check out my video:
Clifford Olson is a Doctor of Audiology and Founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Anthem Arizona. He served as a Marine Corps Scout Sniper during his time in the military which introduced him to the profession of Audiology. He also posts informational videos on his YouTube Channel – DrCliffAuD – to educate consumers on hearing healthcare.
I have just watched the video on REM; I am horrified: WHY ARE THERE NO CAPTIONS? I am 88 ears old, profoundly deaf & have very poor word recognition scores. I have recently acquired new aids: Bernafon SuperPower, which are a huge improvement in one to one communication, & also in listening to classical music; small groups & background nose I think will always be a problem. Listening intently to the video, I suppose I understood about a quarter of what was said, enough to get the general drift, but not great. I live in a large seniors’ community in Ontario,Canada, & am a founding member of the residents’ Hearing Accessibility Committee, which gives information & puts on workshop for residents & staff about hearing loss & what can be done to improve communication; we are advised by the Canadian Hearing Society. I receive the HHTM blogs each week, & there is lots of interesting stuff, although the technical discussions are beyond me!
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for your interest and reading our content. There actually are captions on the video if you click on the bottom toolbar, select the “CC” option and it will appear on your screen.
Thank you!
I really appreciate you helping me learn more about the importance of verification in hearing aid fitting. It really helped when you explained that Real-Ear Measurement is a verification procedure that measures if the hearing aids are programmed correctly to the hearing loss prescription. I will check the hearing aids of my niece if it’s getting the right program for her needs.