Aural Rehabilitation in Scottsdale, AZ

Aural Rehabilitation Can Help Improve Your Hearing with or Without Devices

Sometimes hearing aids are not enough to help you hear your best. At Platinum Hearing we also use aural rehab to help reconnect you to your world. Aural rehabilitation can be a great addition to your hearing health plan and help you fully reconnect to your world better than devices alone.

What Is Aural Rehabilitation?

Aural rehab refers to a collection of different therapies and techniques that help you adapt to your hearing loss and improve your listening and communication abilities. The goal is to help you train your brain to maximize your hearing ability and better reconnect to life than just hearing aids alone. It can be beneficial for people of all ages with varying degrees of hearing loss, from mild to profound. The process often involves multiple specialists, including audiologists, speech-language pathologists, hearing aid specialists, and other healthcare professionals to create a comprehensive plan that addresses the individual’s unique communication goals and challenges.

How Is Aural Rehabilitation Different from Hearing Aids?

Hearing aids can be a part of aural rehabilitation, but they are just one piece of the puzzle. Even if you already have hearing aids, aural rehab can help you make the most of your existing hearing aids.

First, we will do a full hearing assessment and find out what your needs are in terms of the devices you already are using and how they are working for you. Then we will find out specific circumstances that are frustrating to you, even with your devices.

What Types of Treatments Does Aural Rehabilitation Provide?

Once we understand what your pain points are, we can better help you navigate these frustrating situations. We will first educate you about your particular type of hearing loss and what we recommend to help. For a comprehensive aural rehab program, we use a combination of the following treatments:

Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants, and Assistive Listening Devices

Hearing aids are our specialty, but they are just one piece of the overall puzzle to hearing better. We will fit you with the best hearing devices for your needs and budget and then work with you to make sure they are specially tuned to you so you are getting the most out of your devices. Traditional hearing aids are not always the best solution for everyone. For those with advanced hearing loss, cochlear implants may be right for you. For those with mild hearing loss, assistive listening devices could be all you need.

Auditory Training

Auditory training involves exercises and activities designed to improve your ability to perceive and understand speech and other sounds. These exercises can help train the brain to better process auditory information, even in challenging listening environments like crowded rooms.

Speechreading (Lipreading)

People with hearing loss often rely on visual cues, such as lip movements and facial expressions, to aid in understanding spoken language. We can help train you to read lips, which will help you better understand when people are speaking to you.

Communication Strategies

Part of the challenge of hearing loss is how isolating it can make you feel. We can help you learn how to better communicate your challenges in a productive way, such as asking friends and family to repeat themselves, requesting clarification, and advocating for your own communication needs. These strategies can help you more easily work with those around you to set yourself up for success in communication.

Counseling and Psychological Support

Hearing loss can be stressful. Many of our patients report emotional and psychological stress, leading to feelings of frustration, isolation, and low self-esteem. Aural rehabilitation may include counseling and support to address these emotional aspects and help you cope with the challenges of hearing loss.

Environmental Modifications

Making adjustments to the physical environment can improve communication for individuals with hearing loss. This might include reducing background noise, ensuring good lighting for speechreading, and optimizing seating arrangements to facilitate communication.

Group Therapy and Support

Nobody should face a challenge alone. We can recommend group sessions with other individuals who have hearing loss and can provide a supportive environment for sharing experiences, discussing challenges, and practicing communication skills.

How Long Does Aural Rehabilitation Take?

Aural rehabilitation is custom-tailored to your needs, so everyone’s plan looks different. For some people, it can be just a few weeks or a few months. This is usually the case if you have mild to moderate hearing loss who can adapt well to your hearing aids and new communication strategies. For others with more complex hearing loss or who are new to hearing aids, aural rehab can last a few months to a year. This is especially true if you are learning to use cochlear implants or if you need extra help learning how to navigate background noise.

The goal for rehab is to maximize your personal communication abilities and overall quality of life. The process can evolve over time as you become more used to your hearing devices, gain confidence in communication skills, and adapt to different listening situations. We’re here to help you be your very best.

Scottsdale’s Aural Rehabilitation Specialists

Get the most from your hearing aids with Aural Rehabilitation in Scottsdale. We are not just hearing aid salespeople. Our goal is to help you reconnect to your life and hear your best in all situations. Aural rehab is a great tool to help you get the most out of your hearing aid devices and your life.

Want to maximize your ability to hear well and connect to life in any situation? Find out if aural rehab is right for you. Give us a call!