A Look at the Digital Noise Reduction Feature Found in Many Newer Hearing Aids

Noise is a fact of modern life. From busy stadiums to restaurants to the train station, noise is everywhere and can become overpowering at times. People who use hearing aids are particularly sensitive to this problem as it becomes difficult to differentiate between meaningless noise and important sound. Thanks to digital noise reduction, however, many hearing aid wearers are able to block out unwanted noise and concentrate on the things they are most interested in hearing.

Digital noise reduction technology relies on the fact that noise and speech have different sound patterns. This is easy to do when speaking to someone in a quiet room as the speech signals are the only sound around. Walk into a crowded and noisy room and the hearing aid equipped with digital noise reduction immediately knows that unwanted noise is present. The hearing aid makes the necessary adjustments on its own using built-in software and reduces the volume associated with the noisy channels.

Don’t expect that all background noise will be eliminated. No hearing aid can do that. However, the digital noise reduction feature does help improve communications quite a lot in noisy areas. The general consensus among hearing aid wearers with this technology is that speech sounds better and background noise is less overpowering.

Digital noise reduction technology works best when the background noise it is combating is fairly constant. Steady, unchanging sounds such as a car engine or an air conditioner are effectively blocked, but more dynamic noises such as loud music or conversation cannot be overcome as effectively.

To give your digital noise reduction capable hearing aid the best chance at succeeding, use common sense measures in conjunction with technology. If dining in a crowded restaurant, for example, consider asking to be seated in a quieter part of the room or request that the music playing overhead be turned down.

While no hearing aid technology can give you perfect hearing, digital noise reduction can take much of the annoyance out of dealing with noisy situations.