Empowered Patient Podcast

Dr. Leslie Soiles is the Chief Audiologist at HearingLife, which provides hearing care through professionals who conduct hearing assessments at physical locations and make recommendations for the appropriate way to treat hearing loss. With advancements in nanotechnology and the availability of over-the-counter hearing aids, there are more opportunities to address hearing loss. Still, there are many issues to be aware of when using those devices. Leslie explains, "Over-the-counter hearing aids are designed for people with mild to moderate hearing loss. Over-the-counter hearing aids don't require a hearing test to be performed, so if somebody thinks that they might be a candidate for OTC, over-the-counter hearing aids, I really do recommend that they first start with that hearing test to make sure that their need falls within the standard of what an over-the-counter hearing aid is designed for." "In HearingLife, we recommend people start at age 60, and that provides that baseline measurement. As those statistic