What is Real Ear Measurement?
I am a member of the Saddlebrooke Hearing Discussion Group. In this month’s article I would like to briefly discuss Real Ear Measurement (REM). Contrary to what your grandchildren might think, it doesn’t involve having your audiologist grab a tape measure to record the external dimensions of your ear. REM is a technique used in audiology to measure the sound pressure level in a patient's ear canal while wearing a hearing aid. It is an important aspect of the hearing aid fitting process to ensure that your hearing aids have been programmed correctly.
This process involves inserting a silicone probe connected to a microphone into the ear canal to ensure that the hearing aid provides suitable amplification tailored to your individual hearing loss and ear acoustics. REM is critical for optimizing hearing aid fittings, enhancing customer satisfaction, and verifying advanced features such as directional microphones and frequency lowering technology. REM ensures that hearing aids provide the correct amplification for your specific ear canal shape and size, leading to better sound clarity and comfort.
In past Hearing Vibe articles, I have mentioned Dr. Cliff Olson. Dr. Olson is an audiologist and the founder of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona. He is widely recognized for his educational content on hearing loss and treatment options, which he shares through his YouTube channel, Dr. Cliff AuD. I would recommend searching for his video on REM. Simply search for “The Most Important Hearing Aid Video You Will Ever Watch”. It is about ten minutes in length and at the 5 1/2-minute mark, Dr Cliff demonstrates REM. It is an excellent demonstration of how REM can help correctly program your hearing aids. Please take time to search for and watch the video!
While REM is considered best practice for hearing aid fittings and is recommended by audiology organizations, from my brief research it appears that only about 30-40% of hearing specialists regularly perform REM. This is despite the benefits of REM in ensuring accurate hearing aid amplification. Possible reasons professionals do not incorporate it into their standard fitting procedures may be lack of time or financial considerations. I saw one suggestion that if your audiologist hasn’t performed REM or doesn’t believe in REM then you should find a new audiologist.
In summary, REM is an important part of the hearing aid programming process. It is a way to verify that your hearing aids are programmed correctly to your prescription. Without real ear measurements, there's a substantial risk that the hearing aids will not perform as well as they could no matter how expensive they are. This could result in anything from inadequate amplification to discomfort or even further hearing damage. One audiologist referred to REM as the Gold Standard for programming hearing aids.
Our group meets on the 2nd Friday of every month at 10 AM in the Catalina Room in the Mesquite Building. For more information about our group contact Jennifer Jefferis, jenjefferis4u@gmail.com, or Lyle Larson, lllarson72@gmail.com. We typically have one or two Doctor of Audiology students from the University of Arizona in attendance. I am sure that they would be happy to further explain REM. If you have questions about this article or would like to either suggest a future article topic or share your hearing loss journey, my contact email is tgaule@outlook.com