User’s instructionsSenso Vita élan

SV-9éBehind-the-ear

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These user’s instructions are intended as a way to maximize benef it from the Senso Vita élan hearing aid, so please read and follow them carefully.

Please note: Your hearing aid, earmold, and cleaning accessories may not look exactly the same as in these user’s instructions.

Contents

Your new Senso Vita élan hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4A world of new sounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

The road to better hearing and a more active everyday life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Senso Vita élan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9The élan ear-set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11The battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Battery type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Inserting the battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Changing the battery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Turning the hearing aid on and off. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Left/right identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16Placing Senso Vita élan on/in the ear. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Removing Senso Vita élan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Automatic adjustment of loudness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Fine tuning loudness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Listening programs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Switching between the listening programs . . . . . . . . . . . 23Keeping Senso Vita élan clean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Cleaning accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Cleaning the hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Cleaning the élan ear-set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Changing the élan ear-set. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Adjusting the élan ear-set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Caring for your hearing aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Other information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Troubleshooting tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

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Your new Senso Vita élan hearing aid

Widex has been developing and manufacturing high quality hearing aids since 1956. In Senso Vita élan we have utilized the latest advancements in digital technology and created a hearing aid with innova-tive and sophisticated solutions to make the most of your hearing ability and help ensure optimum com-munication.

1. Senso Vita élan without a volume control

2. Senso Vita élan with a volume control

These user’s instructions contain information re-garding various aspects of wearing hearing aids and are made up of two parts: (1) an introduction to life as a hearing aid user getting used to new sounds, etc. (2) facts about your hearing aid such as how to operate and maintain it, and what you can do if you experience problems. We recommend that you read the entire booklet in order to get the most from your new hearing aids.

We hope you will be pleased with your new Widex hearing aid.

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A world of new sounds

Becoming a hearing aid user can be an exciting chal-lenge. While your hearing aid does not restore nor-mal hearing, it does enable you to hear sounds that you may not have heard or thought about for years - everyday sounds such as a clock ticking, water dripping, television, a car, footsteps on hard floors, children, music, doors slamming, etc. Hearing these sounds again can be overwhelming - try to identify and localize them so that they will become a part of your everyday active world.

The road to better hearing and a more active everyday life

Your hearing aid can help you regain the pleasure of communicating with other people and enhance your quality of life. So, although it may feel challenging in the beginning, it will be well worth the effort.

Widex hearing aids are designed with a multitude of options, settings and features to benefit most hear-ing aid users. Your Senso Vita élan hearing aid is set individually to your hearing to ensure the best and most comfortable sound reproduction.

After a period of use in which you experience more diverse listening environments, your hearing aids may have to be fine tuned by your hearing health-care professional. The more details you can provide for your hearing healthcare professional about your initial experience with the hearing aids, the easier it will be to find the right solution.

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Make detailed notes of your concerns and any dif-ficult listening situations to share with your hearing healthcare professional at your next appointment. Does the hearing aid feel comfortable in your ear? Are there difficulties related to low or high frequen-cy sounds, or weak or loud sounds? Does the prob-lem occur all the time or only in specific situations? The details that you provide will enable your hear-ing healthcare professional to offer you appropriate solutions.

Senso Vita élan

Senso Vita élan gives you the clearest and most com-fortable sound possible and automatically adjusts loudness according to your listening environment. Through a continuous analysis of the incoming sounds, Senso Vita élan is able to reduce noise and enhance speech. It is equipped with two listening programs: one for ordinary, quiet environments and one for noisy situations. It can also be provided with the traditional extra listening programs enabling the use of your Senso Vita élan with the telephone or loop systems.

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1. Microphone openings, where the sound enters the hearing aid.

2. Volume control is not standard, but is an option with your Senso Vita élan hearing aid. It allows you to increase or decrease the volume.

3. Program button, which allows you to choose among different listening programs.

4. On/off switch

5. Battery drawer with a nail grip for easy opening.

6. élan ear-set.

The élan ear-set

1. Earhook

2. Tubing

3. Anchor

4. é-tip

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The battery

Battery type

The Senso Vita élan uses a size 13 Zinc Air battery. To purchase batteries, consult your hearing health-care professional. Please note the expiration date and the instructions regarding disposal of used bat-teries on the battery pack. Do not use batteries past the expiration date. Zinc Air type batteries need air to be activated; therefore, do not remove the adhe-sive tab until just before inserting the battery in the hearing aid. Once the tab has been removed, the battery will start functioning after a few seconds. The lifetime of the battery depends on a number of factors, such as the setting of your hearing aid, how many hours you use it daily and the listening envi-ronments in which you use it.

Inserting the battery

Before inserting a new battery in your hearing aid, remember to re-move the adhesive tab. Do not use batteries on which there is a sticky

residue from the tab or other unwanted substance as this can block the battery air holes.

Push the nail grip upwards to swing open the battery drawer. The nail grip is located on the opposite side of the on/off switch at the bottom of the hearing aid. The plus (+) sign of the battery must face upwards. If the battery drawer does not close easily, the battery is incorrectly inserted.

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Changing the battery

If you hear four rapid beep-tones while wearing your hearing aid, it is an indication that the battery is nearly exhausted. Once the battery dies, the hear-ing aid will be completely silent. Exactly how long the hearing aid will function after the beep-tones varies from one case to another. We recommend that you always have a spare battery with you.

Never leave a dead battery in the hearing aid. Dead batteries may leak and damage the hearing aid. When changing batteries, it is a good idea to hold the hearing aid over a table or a carpet, in case you drop the hearing aid or battery.

Turning the hearing aid on and off

The battery drawer is placed at the bottom of the hearing aid. The battery drawer also func-tions as the on/off switch.

The hearing aid is turned on when the switch is pushed upwards, and off when the switch is pushed downwards.

The word “OFF” is clearly visible on the switch when the hearing aid is turned off.

Please remember to switch the hearing aid off when it is not in use. Remove the battery if the hearing aid will not be used again soon.

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Left/right identification

If you wear hearing aids on both ears, your hearing healthcare professional can put colored marks on your hearing aids so you can eas-ily see which is for the left ear and which is for the right ear (red mark = right and blue mark = left).

Placing Senso Vita élan on/in the ear

Insert a battery in your hearing aid. We recommend that you turn off the hearing aid before placing it on the ear. First place the hearing aid behind the ear, so that the earhook and tubing rest comfortably on the ear, close to your head. Then insert the é-tip in the ear canal while holding the lower part of the tubing. Lastly, position the anchor. It should rest at the opening of the ear canal and secure the position of the é-tip as well as the entire élan ear-set. When everything is in the correct position, turn the hear-ing aid on.

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Removing Senso Vita élan

First remove the hearing aid from its position be-hind the ear. Then, carefully pull the é-tip out of the ear canal, while holding the lower part of the tub-ing.

Automatic adjustment of loudness

Senso Vita élan analyzes the surrounding sound en-vironment several thousand times per second and adjusts its volume accordingly. You do not have to think about adjusting the volume – it happens au-tomatically.

Important: If the volume in your hearing aid is too loud or too weak, or if the reproduced sounds are distorted, or you would like any further information, consult the hearing healthcare professional from whom you received your hearing aid.

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Fine tuning loudness

Your hearing aid may be provided with a volume control, shaped like a small lever. Push the le-ver up to raise the volume. Push it down to lower the volume. Use short touches for small volume changes. Larger adjustments are obtained by keeping the lever pressed for some sec-onds.

When you raise the volume, you will hear a beep-tone for each step the volume is raised. When you lower the volume, you will hear a higher beep-tone for each step the volume is lowered. When the max-imum or minimum adjustment level is reached, a steady tone will sound until you release the lever.

Any adjustment of the automatic volume setting will be cancelled when your hearing aid is turned off.

Listening programs

Your Senso Vita élan can be equipped with a number of listening programs optimized for different listen-ing situations. Your hearing healthcare professional can help you select the programs that are of use to you and make them available on the hearing aid program button. If your needs change over time, the combination of listening programs can be changed. In these user’s instructions, the hearing healthcare professional can list the listening programs that are available in your hearing aid (see page 24).

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Listening programs:

You can select the listening program that is most appropriate for your environment.

Quiet (the hearing aid microphone picks up sounds from all directions). This program is recommended for quiet environments.

Noise (the hearing aid microphone focuses on sounds coming from the direction in which you turn your head by attenuating sounds coming from behind). This program is recommended for noisy environments where you wish to focus on speech.

T (telecoil) This listening program can be used with a telecoil compatible telephone and where a loop system is installed. By selecting this program you can listen directly to the sound source and shut out surrounding sounds.

M+T This listening program is a combination of the Quiet and T (telecoil) programs. If you activate “M+T” you can listen directly to the source of sound and still hear the surrounding sounds.

Switching between the listening programs

You switch between the programs by using the pro-gram button on the back of the hearing aid, just above the battery drawer. Each time you switch to anoth-er program, you will hear

beep-tones. The number of beeps tells you which program you are in; one beep-tone for program 1, two beep-tones for program 2, three beep-tones for program 3 and four beep-tones for program 4. Please note that if, for example, you only have three programs, program 3 will be followed by program 1 as you switch programs.

If you – in consultation with your hearing health-care professional – decide on other combinations of programs later, these can be written on the blank forms found at the back of these instructions.

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Listening programs

Program Chosen programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Keeping Senso Vita élan clean

Cleaning accessories

The following accessories are available for your hear-ing aid:

1. Battery magnet to facilitate insertion of the bat-tery into the battery drawer.

2. Wax removing tool for cleaning the élan ear-set.

3. Soft cloth for drying and cleaning the hearing aid.

Additional supplies of accessories can be obtained from the hearing healthcare professional from whom you received your hearing aid.

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Cleaning the hearing aid

Never wash your hearing aid with water, cleaning solutions or other liquids. Instead, clean your hearing aid with a dry soft cloth af-ter use.

When the hearing aid is not in use, it is a good idea to leave the battery drawer open, so as to ventilate the hearing aid and allow it to dry.

Cleaning the élan ear-set

Make sure that your élan ear-set is clean and free of earwax and moisture. Never use alcohol or other cleaning solutions to clean the élan ear-set. If the tubing becomes slack, stiff, yellow or cracked, re-place it. To obtain new élan ear-sets, consult your hearing healthcare professional.

If the élan ear-set tubing is clogged, it must be cleaned. Hold the earhook with two fingers while holding the hearing aid with the opposite hand. Lift the élan ear-set off in a slanting, backward move-ment. Then clear the opening with the wax removal tool.

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The opening in the é-tip can also be cleared with the wax removal tool. If necessary, the é-tip can be washed in lukewarm water. Disconnect the é-tip from the élan ear-set and rinse it thoroughly. Allow it to dry overnight.

Changing the élan ear-set

The élan ear-set should be changed on a regular basis. Its useful life is individual and depends on a number of factors, such as how much the hearing aid is used and the type of earwax to which it is ex-posed. The élan ear-set can be removed by holding the earhook with two fingers and the hearing aid with the opposite hand. Then lift the élan ear-set off in a slanting, backward movement. A new one can then be snapped into place by gently pressing it onto the hearing aid.

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Adjusting the élan ear-set

The élan ear-set can be adjusted to fit your ear exact-ly. Your hearing healthcare professional will choose the correct size for you the first time. In these user’s instructions, your hearing healthcare professional can circle the sizes selected for you. See page 33.

Choice of tubing: The tubing is available in three different lengths for the right and left ear, respec-tively. It is important to choose the correct one in order to ensure a proper fit. The tubing must not be too short or so long that it is too loose.

Choice of é-tip: The é-tip is available in four sizes in order to ensure a comfortable fit in the ear canal. Change the é-tip by pulling it off the rest of the élan ear-set and replacing it with a new one.

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Circle the sizes selected for the élan ear-set.

Left ear Right ear

é-tip Tubing é-tip Tubing

1S 1L 1L 1S 1L 1R

2S 2L 2L 2S 2L 2R

3L 3RAdjusting the anchor: The anchor should form an appropriately sized loop to ensure the comfortable retention of the é-tip in your ear canal. It is formed by pulling the tip of the anchor through a small hole on the side of the ear-set. When the loop is the cor-rect size, cut off any excess, leaving only the loop. The correct size is obtained when the anchor loop com-fortably supports the proper position of the é-tip in the ear canal.

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Caring for your hearing aid

Your hearing aid is designed to give you years of re-liable service. Treat your hearing aid as the valuable object it is - with care:

• The élan ear-set can become misshapen if left in a compressed position for long periods of time. Keep your Senso Vita élan hearing aid placed correctly in the case to maintain the proper shape of the

élan ear-set. The case is designed for hous-ing one hearing aid at a time. If you store two Senso Vita élan hear-ing aids in the same case, be very careful not to twist or squeeze the élan ear-sets out of shape (see drawing).

• When it is not in use, keep your hearing aid in its case in a cool, dry location where it cannot be reached by children or pets. Turn it off. Should you not use it for a day or more, take out the bat-tery to avoid battery leakage.

• Never expose it to extreme temperatures or high humidity.

• Do not wear your hearing aid in the shower or swimming, or when using a hair dryer, hair spray, or other sprays. Use care when applying topical lotions such as sunscreen.

• Never try to open or repair the hearing aid your-self.

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• Some types of radiation can damage your hear-ing aid: do not wear it during x-rays, MRI or CT scans, short-wave diathermy, or similar radiation treatments and never place your hearing aid in a microwave oven. Radiation from room surveil-lance equipment, burglar alarms, and cellular tel-ephones is weaker and will not damage your hear-ing aid.

• Widex hearing aids are not certified for use in mines or other areas with explosive gases.

Other information

• The use of hearing aids increases the risk of ac-cumulation of earwax which can reduce the effec-tiveness of your hearing aid. If you suspect that earwax has accumulated in your ear, contact your physician. It may be necessary for your physician to clean your ears a few times a year.

• Please be sure to keep your hearing aid, batteries, and accessories out of the reach of children. Dis-card used batteries carefully. Do not change bat-teries in front of children and do not let them see where you keep your supply.

• Never put a battery in your mouth for any reason. In case of ingestion, contact your physician imme-diately and The National Button Battery Inges-tion Hotline at: (202) 625-3333.

• The hearing aid is made of modern non-allergenic materials. Still, in rare cases skin irritation can oc-cur. If you notice skin irritation in or around your ear or ear canal, contact your hearing healthcare professional.

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Troubleshooting tips

The following pages include some quick advice to follow if you experience problems. Before contact-ing your hearing healthcare professional, please fol-low the advice below:

If the hearing aid is dead, it could be because:

• The instrument is not turned on. Make sure the bat-tery drawer, which functions as the on/off switch, is pushed all the way upwards and that the word “OFF” is not visible on the switch.

• The battery is dead or does not work. Insert a new battery. Make sure the battery is placed correctly and that the battery drawer is closed correctly.

• The sound outlet of the é-tip is blocked. Blockage of the sound outlet of an é-tip is often caused by ear-wax. Clean the blocked sound outlet or replace the é-tip. If necessary, replace the entire élan ear-set.

If the hearing aid volume is not powerful enough, it could be because:

• The battery is nearly dead. Insert a new battery. Make sure the battery is placed correctly and that the bat-tery drawer is closed correctly.

• The sound outlet of the é-tip is blocked. Blockage of the sound outlet of an é-tip is often caused by ear-wax. Clean the blocked sound outlet or replace the é-tip. If necessary, replace the entire élan ear-set.

• Your ear is blocked by earwax. Contact your physi-cian.

• Your hearing may have changed. Contact your hear-ing healthcare professional.

If the hearing aid whistles continuously, it could be because:

• Your ear is blocked by earwax. Contact your physi-cian.

• The tubing is broken. Replace the élan ear-set.

• The tubing is yellow and stiff. Replace the élan ear-set.

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If the hearing aid works intermittently, it could be because:

• The on/off switch is dirty. Push the switch back and forth a couple of times.

Accessories

FM systems

The FM system from Widex can be used as an ac-cessory to Senso Vita élan. The FM system makes it easier to understand speech in difficult listening situations.

The system consists of a small radio transmitter placed near the person speaking and a small radio receiver attached to a Senso Vita élan via an au-dio/FM shoe. The operating range is approximately 50 feet, depending on the surroundings. Since the system is wireless, both the listener and the speaker have full freedom of movement within the specified range.

For more information on the FM system from Widex, consult your hearing healthcare profession-al.

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Audio input

Your Senso Vita élan can be equipped with an audio shoe to allow direct connection to different kinds of systems (radio, TV, FM systems, CROS and Bi-CROS). Consult your hearing healthcare profes-sional on the use of audio input.

Important: If the hearing aid is connected to equip-ment which is connected to electrical power, this equipment must meet standard safety require-ments.

Do not connect the hearing aid to items that are labeled with one or more of the following symbols:

Listening programs

Program Chosen programs:

Application:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Widex, DK-3500 Vaerloese Denmark • www.widexusa.com

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