{"id":1316,"date":"2022-04-14T14:36:08","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T21:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/?p=1316"},"modified":"2022-04-14T14:36:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-14T21:36:08","slug":"audiologists-help-you-avoid-the-dangers-of-home-ear-impression-kits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/audiologists-help-you-avoid-the-dangers-of-home-ear-impression-kits\/","title":{"rendered":"Audiologists Help You Avoid the Dangers of Home Ear Impression Kits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our ears are unique. When getting hearing protection devices or certain <a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/hearing\/hearing-aids\/\">types of hearing aids<\/a>, an accurate, customized ear impression is essential to creating the perfect fit. While at-home kits are available, they often result in less protection and can even lead to injury.<\/p>\n<h2>The Importance of Hearing Protection Devices <img decoding=\"async\" title=\"woman-ear\" src=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-8092983-768x512.jpg\" alt=\"Close up of a woman's ear.\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1318 alignright\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-8092983-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-8092983-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-8092983-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/pexels-karolina-grabowska-8092983-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/h2>\n<p>Exposure to loud noise is one of the most common causes of hearing loss next to aging. Any noise that reaches a volume of 85 dB or above can damage your ears. The louder the noise, the less time it takes for damage to occur.<\/p>\n<p>Common activities that may affect hearing include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hunting<\/li>\n<li>Riding motorcycles and snowmobiles<\/li>\n<li>Attending concerts at the <a href=\"https:\/\/roselandpdx.com\/\">Roseland Theater<\/a> or other Portland venues<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Noise-induced hearing loss can be temporary, with normal hearing returning within a day or two. However, repeated exposure to loud noise is likely to cause permanent damage. Using custom <a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/hearing\/hearing-loss\/hearing-protection\/\">hearing protection devices<\/a> (HDPs) can protect your ears while still letting you participate in activities you enjoy.<\/p>\n<h2>Home Ear Impression Kits Offer Less Protection<\/h2>\n<p>Research has shown that HDPs created from at-home ear impression kits offer less protection than those made by an audiologist.<\/p>\n<p>A 2013 study compared HDPs made with a home kit versus ones made by a professional. They took two sets of impressions from each participant. One by an amateur participant using an at-home kit. The other was taken by a licensed audiologist.<\/p>\n<p>The results were that HDPs made by an audiologist were significantly <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalcommons.latech.edu\/cgi\/viewcontent.cgi?article=1296&amp;context=dissertations\">more effective at blocking out sound<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Incorrect Ear Impressions Increase Injury Risk<\/h2>\n<p>A 2012 study sent out surveys to otolaryngology departments asking about their experiences treating secondary <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/26548100\/\">injuries caused during at-home impression taking for hearing aids<\/a>. They found that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>301 institutions treated a total of 460 impression-related injuries<\/li>\n<li>8% (298 cases) of injuries were caused by foreign bodies in the ear left during the removal of the impression material, with 32 requiring surgical intervention to treat.<\/li>\n<li>An additional 31.7% developed bleeding and fluid in the ear following removal of the ear impression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Bottom Line<\/h2>\n<p>If you need a quality ear impression, visit a professional audiologist to get the best protection and to keep your ears safe.<\/p>\n<p>For additional information or to schedule an appointment with an audiologist, call <span class=\"company-name \">Mt. Hood ENT &amp; Allergy<\/span> today.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"related-posts\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/what-does-fluttering-in-the-ear-mean\/\" class=\"related-post\">What Does Fluttering in the Ear Mean?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/can-ear-infections-cause-hearing-loss\/\" class=\"related-post\">Can Ear Infections Cause Hearing Loss?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/how-exercise-can-affect-your-hearing-health\/\" class=\"related-post\">How Exercise Can Affect Your Hearing Health<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our ears are unique. When getting hearing protection devices or certain types of hearing aids, an accurate, customized ear impression is essential to creating the perfect fit. While at-home kits are available, they often result in less protection and can even lead to injury. The Importance of Hearing Protection Devices Exposure to loud noise is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"When getting hearing protection devices or hearing aids, an accurate, customized ear impression is essential to creating the perfect fit.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","locid":"","rating":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1316"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1319,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1316\/revisions\/1319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}