Digital technology improves hearing aids

Digital technology has changed the way we listen to and store music, and it’s also helping many people hear any type of sound better than they have before. University of Northern Iowa audiology professor Bruce Plakke, says hearing aids have advanced a great deal. He says the technology has changed to almost all digital hearing aids that control the volume automatically. They have directional microphones and other technology that wasn’t available two or three years ago. Plakke says, unfortunately, not many people are taking advantage of the new technology.He says there’s only about 10-percent of the people who need hearing aids that’re wearing them. He says getting hearing aids can be a life-changing. He says people have just forgotten the sounds of life and how much they’ve been missing. He says people are often much more relaxed and less tired, as he says it’s very tiring to have to strain to hear everything. Plakke says the cost of hearing aids could be one drawback for people, as he says the increased technology hasn’t led to lower costs. He says there are not enough hearing aids sold to bring down the cost.