Experiencing a rapid or gradual decline in hearing is a difficult time for anyone. Hearing loss continues to serve as a common issue for many, especially those consistently exposed to loud noises or senior citizens throughout the natural aging process. Cobb Hearing Aid Services understands this and works hard to provide care for hearing loss within the community. With in-depth evaluations for each of their patients, they provide personalized hearing aid options that are specifically programmed to fit each patient’s individual needs.
“I think we’ve had a great impact, but our patients are the ones who tell us the most…loss of hearing has quite an effect on individuals ranging from isolation, depression, and inappropriate responses to questions others ask,” said Otis Whitcomb, M.A., the practice’s founding audiologist. “So many patients deny that they have hearing loss and they blame it on some thing else. But overall, I think [the practice’s] impact has been positive.”
Since 1998, Whitcomb has dispensed hearing aids at the local practice for patients in the Cobb County area. Patients are provided with thorough hearing evaluations to better define their level of hearing loss and pinpoint how their respective hearing aids need to be programmed.
“Some [patients] have said, ‘I’ve gone to so-and-so and all they want to do is sell me a hearing aid,’” Whitcomb said. “What we do is try to find out what their needs are and go from there rather than trying to sell them a hearing aid.”
With roughly 1,200 patients in their database, the practice remains busy helping residents recover their hearing each and every day. Despite evaluating adults of all ages, he regularly serves geriatric patients.
“This location [in Marietta] has been here for over 20 years. It’s convenient, it’s a ground-floor location, and you just drive up to the front door and come in,” Whitcomb said. “With the access, our patients really like it. It’s incredibly convenient for our patients with wheelchairs and walkers and things like that…we have a large waiting room that is very convenient for them. We try to schedule according to time so that patients don’t have to wait long.”
Interestingly enough, the practice is currently run by both Whitcomb and his son, Keith Whitcomb, GHAS. With Keith having graduated with years of experience performing and producing music, he now utilizes those technical listening skills for programming hearing aids.
“In the music industry, they mix all kinds of music and that is a very high-tech skill that requires a high level of listening skills,” Whitcomb said. “He has taken his background of listening in the music industry and learning how to program for music and translated that to programming high-tech hearing aids for a much more personalized fitting.”
Because there is a multitude of different hearing levels and challenges, Whitcomb stresses the importance of receiving personalized hearing care from audiology professionals as opposed to purchasing over the-counter hearing aids that can be difficult for patients to program themselves.
Untreated hearing loss can gradually get worse over time and may even cause clinical depression, Alzheimer’s, and other cognitive issues in the future. For the sake of keeping people healthy and safe for the long term, Whitcomb recommends early testing as a number of studies show that hearing loss can be treated to help prevent cognitive decline.
For that reason, Cobb Hearing Aid Services offers quarterly “hearing aid workshops” that provide a free consultation for people as an outreach for the community. The next one is set to kick off the new year in January or February.
Cobb Hearing Aid Services is located at 2635 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 108 in Marietta/East Cobb. To schedule your consultation, call 770-509-0207 or visit www.CobbHearingAidServices.com.
