Overcoming Hearing Aid Fears: The Road to Better Hearing

190 Pages·2003·0.61 MB·English

by  John M. Burkey

Overcoming
Hearing Aid
Fears

z
Overcoming
Hearing Aid
Fears
The Road to
Better Hearing
 . 
Rutgers University Press
New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Burkey,John M.,1959–
Overcoming hearing aid fears :the road to better hearing / John M.Burkey.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8135-3309-0 (hardcover :alk.paper) —ISBN 0-8135-3310-4 (pbk.:alk.
paper)
1. Hearing aids—Popular works. I. Title.
RF300 .B87 2003
617.8'9-dc21
2003000432
British Cataloging-in-Publication information is available from the British
Library.
Copyright © 2003 by John M.Burkey
All rights reserved
No part ofthis book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without written permission from the publisher.Please contact Rutgers University
Press,100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue,Piscataway,NJ 08854–8099.The only exception
to this prohibition is “fair use”as defined by U.S.copyright law.
Manufactured in the United States ofAmerica
Contents
List ofIllustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Medical Observations on the Normal,Impaired,
and Aided Ear 7
2. Denial and Acceptance ofHearing Loss 26
3. Appearance and Deeper Concerns 42
4. Fears and Doubts 53
5. Benefits for a Hearing Aid User 84
6. Benefits for Friends and Family 98
7. Hearing Aids 101 110
8. Cost 133
9. Rejoining the Hearing World 146
Glossary 161
References 169
Index 171

Illustrations
Figure 1.1. The human ear 8
Figure 1.2. Block diagram ofa simple hearing aid 14
Figure 3.1. Cut-away view ofa CIC hearing aid in the ear 44
Figure 7.1. Sizes and landmarks ofITE hearing aids 111
Figure 7.2. Landmarks ofa BTE hearing aid with earmold 112
vii

Acknowledgments
I wish to thank Audra Wolfe,Ph.D.,science editor,and Adi Hovav,
editorial assistant, at Rutgers University Press for their insightful
comments and suggestions during the preparation ofthis book.Ex-
pert copyediting was provided by Debbie Self.I also wish to thank
the physicians,audiologists,nurses,and support staff of the Lippy
Group for Ear,Nose,and Throat for their encouragement through-
out this project.Finally,I wish to thank my wife,Karen,for her love
and understanding during the writing and publication ofthis book.
I’ve had the privilege to work with and help many people with
hearing loss.Some of their stories are included in this book.All of
the names of patients given are pseudonyms; thereby no breach of
patient confidentiality has been committed.
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