Dr. Sreekant Cherukuri is a board-certified otolaryngologist (Ear, Nose, and Throat physician) and the founder of the MDHearingAid company.
As an attending physician in otolaryngology, Dr. Cherukuri would see patients every day who had hearing problems. Many of his patients who needed hearing aids went without the help they needed. It seemed that cost of custom hearing aids was a major obstacle. Each hearing aid costs between $1,000 and $3,000 and most insurance companies don’t cover that expense.
Dr. Cherukuri and his team at MDHearingAid used world-class components from both the US and European markets in developing the MDHearingAid PRO. The MDHearingAid PRO was designed to meet the needs of 80 to 85% of people with hearing loss.
Before marketing the PRO, MDHearingAid tested it on patients that fit the hearing loss profile. The response was overwhelmingly positive. The sound output was very clear and high quality and the users loved the control, such as a volume dial and program switch that they didn’t have on their high end, fancy hearing aids.
The MDHearingAid PRO has been a very successful product; however, analog hearing aids have certain limitations in challenging, noisy environments. That’s when the team at MDHearingAid decided to develop the MDHearingAid AIR, an all-digital hearing aid.
The MDHearingAid AIR is competitive with today’s expensive hearing aids because of its world class feature set. With the MDHearingAid AIR, we wanted to empower the user to make adjustments for their comfort.
Dr. Cherukuri shows where the ear domes attach to the AIR tubing and the dome goes into the ear. The AIR comes with six different ear domes in a variety of sizes and styles. There is a volume dial and on/off switch, which allows the user to manipulate the sound output depending on his environment and needs. There is a program button. The MDHearingAid AIR has three different programs, which change the amplification pattern of sound to accommodate the most common types of hearing loss in the most common environments.
The hearing aid assembly is a very simple process. The hearing aid tubing attaches to the hearing aid base with gentle pressure in a screw like motion. The other end is where the ear dome goes in that goes in your ear. You attach it with gentle pressure pushing it on and making sure it’s snug. There is an optional stabilizer bar that helps hold the ear dome in your ear canal, but that’s optional and can be removed.
Dr. Cherukuri asks his patient, Ed, to put the aid in his ear. “How does that sound now?”
Ed replies, “Excellent. Since I’ve got these MDHearingAid AIRs, my life has changed dramatically. Now I can go outside. I can hear the birds chirping. I can hear the wind in my ears. I can hear the leaves rustle. I’m hearing sounds that I haven’t heard in years. In fact, so long that I’ve forgotten what they sounded like. It’s really a great feeling. It’s given me a whole new phase back into my life again.”
Ed’s wife, Norma adds, “We’re both more compatible with one another because we don’t have to shout at one another and we don’t have to repeat.”
Another patient, Linda reports, “I love the programming of the AIR hearing aid because it has a Telecoil program, which connects the telephone right to my hearing aid. There’s no interference, no noise at all except the clear sound of the voice.”
Ed agrees, “Hearing on the phone now is much clearer than what it used to be. Before I’d have to have people repeating themselves over and over again. I’d get part of what was coming through, but part of it would be sound like mumbling. With the hearing aids now everything comes through crystal clear and I don’t have any problems on the phone whatsoever.”
Linda says, “The MDHearingAid AIRs have changed my life so much. I’m hearing things that I never heard. I’m not screaming at people on the phone. To anybody I know that has any hearing loss, I highly recommend these. They’re comfortable to wear. They’re affordable and they’re just great!”
The MDHearingAid AIR is an effective, affordable solution for the over 20 million people with untreated hearing loss. My philosophy is you should see a physician, preferably an Ear, Nose, and Throat physician, get a hearing test, and buy the best hearing aid you can afford. For many people that would be the MDHearingAid AIR.”