It is no secret that many people who wear hearing aids have simply chosen to avoid restaurants all together. Many agree that the noisy, hectic atmosphere of a busy restaurant poses the greatest challenge for a hearing aid wearer. If you think about the hundreds of sounds all happening at once this is no surprise.
Certainly open ear hearing aids are the best option for such an environment but a study a Washington University went further to attempt to find the best solution.
Washington University went so far as to record the sounds of a busy New York restaurant to recreate in their labs.
The experiment/study showed that open canal hearing combined with a hearing aid with a directional mic provided 20% better results than the others.
The open fit hearing aids have been around for over 5 years now and are truly are designed for people who have solid low frequency hearing but suffer in the higher ranges where conversation often occurs.
End of the day, if you or a loved one is using a hearing aid and frustrated with the loud-restaurant experience, be sure to recommend that they tray an open fit hearing aid with a directional microphone.
