How to Deal with Hearing Loss during COVID

For many Americans with hearing loss, access to support devices and ongoing monitoring of their exact degree of loss is a vital part of staying healthy. Not only does hearing loss often come as a symptom of other health issues that need to be treated, access to hearing aids and other essential support devices make communication with medical professionals and other care providers more accessible. On top of that, many younger people with hearing loss depend on their supports to maintain regular involvement in the workplace and communication with friends and family. That means that even during times like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, care for hearing loss remains an essential medical service. It’s just how you access it that changes a little.

Order Online or Make an Appointment

Every Happy Ears Hearing Center location remains open to serve your needs during the pandemic, so if you require ongoing treatment for conditions like tinnitus, appointments are available. To help our customers stay safe, you can easily order any regular supplies like extra batteries through our online store. They’ll be delivered promptly to your home, so you don’t have to make the journey in just to get the supplies you count on. That helps keep social distancing during the vital appointments that require face to face meetings without interrupting anyone’s access to hearing aid supplies or other essentials.

Each of our locations features online booking, available through the website that also provides you with the address and other contact information. That makes it easy to set your appointments when you’re ready, by either following the link or calling in for assistance. If you do need an office visit, you’ll notice procedures have changed to help keep everyone safe.

Safety Precautions During COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend everyone who can wear a mask does so to help reduce transmission of the virus. In addition to that, there are several degrees of recommended screening and safety procedures for healthcare organizations like ours. These policies may change as infection rates decline, but during high risk times they may also become more strictly implemented. Recommended changes you may encounter depending on your appointment timing include:

• Health screening questions designed to help identify potential symptoms or trace contacts with potentially infected persons
• Temperature screening to ensure no patients coming onsite currently have a fever
• Curbside service for store pick-up orders
• Restrictions on in-store browsing or on the number of customers in store at one time
• Mask policies for visits
• Reception at your car to reduce in-store waiting times

While some of these restrictions might seem inconvenient, they are being implemented to help keep everyone safe and healthy. That means they’ll be gone as soon as it’s safe, and in the meantime, our staff is still doing everything they can to make sure you have the treatment you need and the supplies that keep your hearing aids working.

Remote Support Options

Often visits to an audiologist are more about troubleshooting your devices than receiving evaluation or treatment that requires a face to face visit. To help you navigate the controls and maintenance of your hearing aid devices from the convenience of your own home, remote support and troubleshooting are also available. That not only saves you the trip in, it saves you the wait because it gives you a way to get help from your own computer as soon as you experience issues with a device. For many customers, this is all that’s needed to get things straightened out. On the rare occasion that something needs to be repaired by an expert, there are options to support your needs during COVID-19.

Repair Services From Our Team

Our regular repair services continue to be available throughout the pandemic, so you can count our team for the same in-office service you have always expected. Occasionally, complex repairs have to go back to the manufacturer, and we can also help facilitate that as usual. It’s worth remembering that delivery services like those that take your device to and from a manufacturer authorized service location could be running slower than normal due to the pandemic. That means wait times might be a little longer than expected for those orders that go out.

In-office repair services may slow down depending on staff availability and the volume of requests, but that is something that happens on an ongoing basis, pandemic or not. If you’re wondering whether a repair is likely to take longer than our standard four to seven day window, just ask and our team will be happy to let you know if there are any identified delays.

Let Us Know How To Help!

Healthcare will remain an essential service, but our team wants to deliver it to you as safely as possible. Let us know how we can help, and we’ll recommend the fastest and safest option for you, whether it’s an order from our online store, repair drop-off with curbside service, or a socially distanced office visit for the treatment you can only get in person.