If your parent is not hearing well, you need to take steps to help them. This can be dangerous for them especially if they are still driving. If your parent has an alarm system in their home and it went off, they may not hear the alarm. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to help them. Below is information about this so you can get started.

Visit an Audiologist

The first thing to do is to take your parent to see an audiologist. This is a doctor that specializes in hearing loss. They will check your parent's ears to see why they are having hearing problems. The audiologist will check your parent's ear to see if there is any wax build-up as this can affect hearing. There are some diseases that can affect hearing, such as otosclerosis and Meniere's disease. In many cases, hearing loss is age-related as the inner ear structure can degenerate over time. There are some medications that can affect hearing.

If the audiologist does not find any health problems or medications causing the hearing loss, they will then suggest that your parent get hearing aids. They will first do a hearing test to determine their level of hearing loss so they can choose the best type of hearing aid for them.

Types of Hearing Aids

There are hearing aids that sit in the ear and others that sit behind the ear. In the ear hearing aids are placed in your parent's ear canal. If they choose this type, the hearing aids will be custom fitted to ensure they are comfortable. The hearing aids can go deep into the ear canal or closer to the outer ear. To help hide these hearing aids, they are available in a variety of skin tones. Some of these have internal batteries that must be replaced, and others have rechargeable batteries.

Behind the ear hearing aids have an ear dome that has a speaker built into it. The speaker part of this hearing aid sits on the outer ear and there is a small microphone that sits behind their ear in a tiny case. A thin wire connects the speaker and microphone. These hearing aids have a rechargeable battery.  

The audiologist can go over these hearing aids in much more detail. They will also suggest the best type for your parent. The doctor will also show your parent how to properly clean their hearing aids as ear wax can build up on them.