People often get hearing aids, get used to hearing sounds clear, and then decide that hearing aids do not help them.
Hearing aids should make hearing easier overall, even if they cannot fix all particular problems. Hearing aids may not seem like they are helping because hearing loss can come on very gradually, or it can cause different changes in your hearing at different frequencies (different pitches) in each ear. So you might hear many things better with hearing aids than without, but there may still be some sound situations that are hard for you to understand. If you stop wearing your hearing aids when they don’t solve every problem for you by themselves, you will never learn how helpful hearing aids can be for understanding speech in everyday hearing situations.
Another reason hearing aids may not seem like they are helping is because even with some sounds you can hear pretty well with hearing aids, there might be background noise that makes it hard to understand the other person very well. Sometimes hearing aid wearers think hearing aids make their hearing worse because they get used to hearing many things better than before they had hearing aids.
Still, when the hearing aid wearer goes someplace where there is loud noise (like a cafeteria or gymnasium), they may miss some of what someone says because it is hard to hear over all of the noise in the room. This happens because hearing aids focus on making the sound louder but do not help separate one voice or instrument from another.
For example, hearing aids can help you hear your granddaughter better when she talks softly, but hearing aids cannot change the fact that many other people are talking at the same time in a room.
Sometimes hearing loss changes how sounds sound to you, making it harder to understand what is being said. For example, hearing loss may make it hard for some people to discriminate between different pitches (high vs. low) or the loudness of sounds.
As a result, people with hearing loss who have trouble determining pitch differences may think speech sounds muffled or muddy or that they are mishearing words because the sounds “run together” more than before their hearing problem started. Some aspects of speech sound softer and others louder depending on pitch. Someone may have hearing loss that does not allow them to hear quiet sounds, but then the hearing loss also makes it harder for them to understand loud sounds. This may cause hearing aid wearers to think hearing aids are no help because they do not seem to solve all their hearing problems by themselves.
Hearing loss can be described by how it occurs and how severe it is-and each description suggests a different type of hearing aid. There are five main types of hearing loss:
Conductive hearing loss. This type of hearing loss means sound cannot pass through the outer part of your ear, called your “outer ear,” to reach your inner ear properly. Your audiologist will check conductive hearing loss by using a tuning fork and hearing instrument.
Sensorineural hearing loss. This is the most common type of hearing loss, and it occurs when hearing signals are not transmitted correctly in the inner ear or when your brain cannot process what’s heard. It can be caused by many factors, including middle ear infections, long-term exposure to loud noise, injury to the ear from sudden impact (such as an explosion), certain medications, illness, and aging. Since hearing aids don’t cure sensorineural hearing loss, there often is no way of knowing exactly what causes it or how severe it will get over the time-mixed hearing loss.
This hearing loss means you have trouble hearing some sounds because of damage to your inner or outer ears-and you can listen to other sounds because of hearing that still works well. It’s essential to diagnose this hearing loss right away because it can worsen if you don’t treat it appropriately. If hearing aids are needed, they will probably need to be worn in both ears and may need to be changed regularly for the best hearing possible.
Unilateral hearing loss. This is a common type of hearing loss where someone has trouble hearing in just one ear. The good news is that hearing loss in only one ear usually worsens over time. With unilateral hearing loss, a person can use a hearing aid to hear better in the ear with the hearing loss or switch from wearing two hearing aids all the time to wearing one behind-the-ear model instead.
Bilateral hearing loss. People who have hearing loss in both ears usually need hearing aids. This type of hearing loss can worsen over time, so early treatment with hearing aids is vital to protect your hearing health.
Conclusion
Hearing aids are hearing instruments that amplify sounds to help you hear more clearly. There are three main hearing aids: in-the-ear hearing aid, behind-the-ear hearing aid, and binaural hearing aid.