Embrace Life and Hear the Joy This Holiday Season, Get Your Hearing Tested with a Loved One, BHI Urges

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Getting your hearing tested with a loved one may be the most precious and uplifting gift you can give—or get—this holiday season, says the Better Hearing Institute (BHI). No doubt, it will be among the very best things you—and your loved one—can do to safeguard an active, healthy, engaging lifestyle.

To help you take that first step, BHI is offering a free, quick and confidential online hearing check, at www.hearingcheck.org, to determine if you or your loved one need a comprehensive hearing test by a hearing healthcare professional.

In the past few years, the realities of modern-day life have realigned themselves, forcing us to re-think how we look at hearing loss. Younger people—Gen Xers and youthful-minded baby boomers—are developing hearing loss in greater numbers. Certainly, they're not ready to give up an inch on their active personal or professional lives. At the same time, older Americans are putting off retirement and staying in the workforce longer. All the while, hearing aid technology and design have undergone a sweeping transformation—taking off in terms of what they can offer youthful-minded people eager to stay active and engaged.

The new reality is that hearing loss is part of modern life for a great number of people. It's commonplace. And like many things modern, there are sleek technologies and innovative services that can make it much easier to manage hearing loss—that is, if you acknowledge and address it.

The vast majority of people with hearing loss can benefit from hearing aids.

Simply, today's hearing aids are state-of-the-art, highly effective, sleek and sophisticated. They're high-tech like other wearable consumer electronics—but one that is transforming in its ability to help keep people of all ages connected to their smartphone, television, other prized electronics, and most importantly, to life.

But that's not all. Complementary technologies—like induction loop systems, known as hearing loops, in concert halls and other public places, or remote microphones that companions can wear in noisy restaurants so their voice streams directly into their friend or loved one's hearing aid—make it all the easier for people with hearing loss to stay active and involved. 

So this holiday season, do something life-altering. Empower a loved one who may be struggling with unaddressed hearing loss to press the "refresh" button on his or her life. Go together to get your hearing tested.

It's a new world out there. Embrace it, and hear the joy this holiday season.

Five trending facts about today's modern hearing aids

(1)   They're virtually invisible. Many of today's hearing aids sit discreetly and comfortably inside the ear canal, providing both natural sound quality, and discreet and easy use.

(2)   They automatically adjust to all kinds of soundscapes. Recent technological advances with directional microphones have made hearing aids far more versatile than ever before—and in a broad range of sound environments.

(3)   You can enjoy water sports and sweat while wearing them. Waterproof digital hearing aids have arrived. This feature is built into some newly designed hearing aids for those concerned about water, humidity, and dust. This feature suits the active lifestyles of swimmers, skiers, snowboarders, intensive sports enthusiasts and anyone working in dusty, demanding environments.

(4)   They work with smartphones, home entertainment systems and other prized electronics. Wireless, digital hearing aids are now the norm. That means seamless connectivity—directly into your hearing aid(s) at volumes that are just right for you—from your smartphone, MP3 player, television and other high-tech gadgets.

(5)   They're always at the ready. A new rechargeable feature on some newly designed hearing aids allows you to recharge your hearing aids every night, so they're ready in the morning. It's super convenient—and there's no more fumbling with small batteries.

For more information on hearing loss, visit www.BetterHearing.org.

SOURCE Better Hearing Institute