In the United States, approximately 15% of adults over the age of 18 experience some difficulty hearing. Hearing loss is surprisingly common. By the time we’re 65, 33% of adults have hearing loss.
If you’ve recently had a diagnosis of hearing loss, you may be concerned about how it will impact your quality of life. But we have good, no, GREAT, news for you. The technology of today has helped develop sophisticated hearing aid devices. Think of them like mini-computers in your ear.
Modern hearing aid devices can adapt to a variety of listening environments. They can be fine-tuned to your specific listening needs. They can even connect to your smart devices.
The only problem, is that hearing aid devices can be expensive. You may be wondering if you could get away with only using one hearing aid. Let’s take a closer look.
Why Can’t I Wear One Hearing Aid?
Hearing healthcare specialists will tell you. This is a surprisingly common question we get from our patients. If you’ve ever asked, “Why can’t I wear one hearing aid,” read on to find out three reasons why we advise wearing two hearing aids.
Listening Experience
First – consider this. Do you wear glasses? Have you ever thought to just wear a monocle, instead of a pair of glasses? It’s an unlikely scenario. After all, why would you only want the vision in one eye to improve?
The benefits that hearing aids offer to your hearing ability are similar. Think of your ears like a muscle group. (Sidenote – your ears are not a muscle, we’re just using this as a metaphor!) To keep your ears in the best shape possible, you need to exercise and stimulate them.
If you’re wearing a hearing aid device in one ear, one ear will be getting a “work-out.” That doesn’t mean the other ear isn’t working. It’s just not receiving the same level of stimulation that the ear with the hearing device is.
You may even find that the hearing in your ear without a hearing aid device appears to get worse. This is known as “Auditory Deprivation.” It’s something that happens to many of us as we age. It can cause some sounds to be a little unclear or less-crisp. You may notice it when trying to listen to voices in loud areas, for example.
Using two hearing aid devices helps to create a surround sound experience. It provides the same level of stimulation to both of your ears, providing a greater listening experience for you.
Hearing Environment
Our lives can be noisy. While it would be great for every conversation to happen in a quiet place, that’s not reality. The truth is, we’re often in noisy environments. If you have hearing loss, this can be challenging.
In noisy environments, your ears work the best together. This is down to how we actually hear. It’s actually our brains, not our ears, that allow us to hear. Our brains process sounds from both ears to interpret sounds. The ability to hear in both ears is known as Binaural Hearing.
Maximizing our hearing ability in both ears improves our brain’s ability to process sounds around us. Wearing two hearing aids ensures both of your ears are hearing optimally.
Sound Direction
As we’ve just discussed, hearing involves both ears. Your ears also play an important role in determining the direction of a sound. When your ears work together, your brain can help localize a sound. If only one ear is hearing optimally, this becomes far more challenging.
Need Help? Have a Question? Contact Us Today!
Hearing aids are designed to enhance your listening experience. If you’d like to discuss your hearing requirements, the team at Anderson Audiology would be happy to help. Call today at 702-997-2964 and arrange an appointment at your convenience. Or, if you’d prefer, click here to request an appointment online.