Your questions about hearing & hearing aids.

Yes. Rahi Hear & Care is the authorised hearing aid distributor in Ambawadi, Ahmedabad for Phonak, Starkey, Signia, and Unitron. We also fit Oticon, Widex, and ReSound on request.

Every device we fit is backed by the full manufacturer warranty and serviced through us directly. Smita ji has been working with these brands from Ambawadi since 1998, so spares, reprogramming, and follow-up visits all run through one place.

Almost anyone who experiences difficulty with communication because of hearing loss is a candidate. There are some hearing losses that can be medically treated without amplification, but that's the exception, not the rule.

The good news: there are usually clear warning signs. If two or more sound familiar, it's worth a free 20-minute hearing test.

These are the ten most common signs we hear from families. If yes to 3 or more, it's time to come in.

If you said yes to any of these, you may have hearing loss and it's worth getting checked by a specialist. Everyone over 50 should have their hearing tested annually, regardless.

Yes, and this is the part that's most under-appreciated. With untreated hearing loss, a patient's emotional and mental state is often affected by the disrupted communication patterns. Studies show people with hearing loss are four times as likely to manifest psychological disturbance compared to those with normal hearing.

There's also growing evidence that untreated hearing loss can exacerbate behavioural symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's and other cognitive disorders. Fitting a hearing aid is one of the simplest, most evidence-backed ways to protect long-term cognition.

“Tinnitus” is the technical term for ringing, hissing, or buzzing heard without an external sound source. It can be caused by many things (fatigue, certain medications including aspirin, and so on), but the single most common cause is hearing loss itself, particularly sensorineural hearing loss.

This is thought to happen because damaged sections of the cochlea produce spontaneous activity that the brain interprets as sound. Properly fitting a hearing aid often reduces or masks tinnitus.

Sound is a vibration that travels through air. The ear has four main parts the vibration must pass through for you to hear it:

• Outer ear: gathers and funnels sound
• Middle ear: converts vibration into mechanical movement via tiny bones
• Inner ear (cochlea): converts mechanical movement into nerve signals
• Auditory nerve & brain: where sound becomes meaning

Damage at any of these four stages causes different types of hearing loss, and different recommended treatments.

There are three broad types:

• Conductive: outer or middle ear blockage (wax, infection, perforation). Often medically treatable.
• Sensorineural: inner ear or nerve damage. The most common type in older adults; best treated with hearing aids.
• Mixed: a combination of both.

A proper hearing test tells us which type you have, and which treatment makes sense.

If the hearing loss is caused by a medically treatable problem, it can worsen over time without care. If it's due to a lesion or tumour, it could be life-threatening. Always worth getting checked.

Even when the loss is due to age or noise damage, the brain is what loses out. This is called auditory deprivation. The brain stops being stimulated by sound, and over time “forgets” how to decode speech.

Studies suggest the longer hearing loss goes untreated, the more likely the brain is to lose its ability to understand speech, even after amplification is later added. In short: early treatment protects long-term hearing and cognition.

Hearing loss typically progresses gradually, from a small amount to greater and greater loss. The impact depends on the degree:

• Normal (0–25 dB): no difficulty
• Mild (26–40 dB): whispers and soft consonants fade
• Moderate (41–60 dB): normal conversation becomes effortful
• Severe (61–80 dB): even raised voices are hard to follow
• Profound (81+ dB): only very loud sounds perceived

Try the self-check on our homepage or the loss visualizer to see what each level sounds like.