What You Need to Know About Purchasing a Hearing Aid

You may be experiencing hearing loss if you often complain that others are mumbling, or you have difficulty understanding conversations in a group. Hearing aids can make sounds louder, but cannot change how your ears function.

Are you having trouble hearing?  Do you think a hearing aid might help?  Most often, hearing loss sneaks up on you.  Suddenly one day, you notice that you no longer hear the humming of the refrigerator or the birds’ singing.

On average, it takes 10 years for people with hearing loss to finally do something about it.  Many people are simply waiting for the hearing problem to go away.  Unfortunately, this rarely happens. 

Your brain center stores sounds and noises for up to three years following the onset of hearing loss, but after about seven years the memory becomes weaker and weaker. Therefore, it is important to have your hearing tested and hearing aids fitted when you find out that you are losing some of your hearing.  Additionally, hearing loss is also linked to the risk of falling, likeliness to develop dementia, increased risk of depression, and sufferers are also more likely to be hospitalized. 

Steve and Miche Dyke, Miracle-Ear franchise owners, have helped countless people overcome their hearing problems.  They opened their first office in Muskogee known as Better Sound Hearing in 1990 and have since grown to 14 offices throughout Oklahoma.  In 2015 they became Miracle-Ear.

The couple has a passion for helping people.  Steve was raised in a family of audiologists and is a board certified hearing instrument specialist and Miche is a registered nurse.  “Being in the Miracle Ear group allows us to provide our patients with more warranties for loss and damage, provide better pricing, and expand to offer more services.  When you need help or service your warranty can be used without charge at any Miracle-Ear store worldwide,” explained Miche.

“Another wonderful facet of Miracle-Ear is that if you cannot afford a hearing aid, you will not leave without a hearing aid… the Miracle-Ear Foundation’s Gift of Sound hearing aid program helps children and adults with hearing loss gain access to hearing aids.  The program is designed for people who demonstrate a personal inability to financially provide for their hearing health needs. For information about eligibility, visit www.miracle-earfoundation.org, or see us in our office.” Miche explains.

Their entire staff is licensed in various capacities which include; a hearing instrument specialist, audiologist, nurses, and even their front office assistants participate in ongoing Miracle-Ear learning modules.

Fitting and maintenance of your hearing aids are of utmost importance.  Miche says, “our experienced staff uses all the latest technology to test and diagnose your hearing and will take the appropriate amount of time to make sure your fitting is right for your loss and ensure satisfaction.”  When you purchase hearing aids from them, ongoing adjustments of your instruments, batteries and cleanings are always available at any of their locations at no charge.

“Another thing, we help our patients with is education.  We teach you about wax management, make-up, and how hair spray can damage your hearing aids.  Also, batteries should be changed every one to two weeks for hearing aids that require batteries.  Cleaning should be done every 90 days at our office.  Cleanings, for any make or model, at our office are available to no charge regardless of where you purchased your hearing aids,” she expressed.

Miche and Steve allow you to try your hearing aids before you buy them.  “We want to make sure you are going to wear your hearing aids.  The price of your hearing aid will start at about $695.00 and go up depending on what technology and user experience you choose.

One outstanding product they feature is the latest directional beam forming technology found in Miracle-Ear GENIUS RIC hearing instruments which allow hearing aid wearers to actually hear better in noise than their normal hearing peers.  “The improvement in speech in noise for users of this technology can relate to a 20 – 30% increase in speech intelligibility,” related Miche.

If you find yourself asking those around you, “WHAT” more than normal, it is time to get your hearing checked. If so, contact the staff at Miracle-Ear in Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Owasso, Jenks, Bixby, Bartlesville or Muskogee.  They will put their years of experience and caring to work for you.