Hearing aid devices are an investment, and at Krista Szalc, Audiology PLLC, we understand that cost is a major factor when considering to purchase hearing aids. Most people might think you can skip out and only buy one, but what are the pros and cons of wearing two hearing aids?
When you wear two hearing aids you equally increase the noise level coming into both of your ears. One hearing aid can make sounds confusing and may result in overall poor sound quality. If your “good” ear also has some minor hearing loss, a hearing aid will help you avoid any auditory deprivation. This term describes what happens when hearing loss is left untreated and results in worse hearing loss and speech recognition later in life due to the initial hearing loss being untreated. When you wear hearing aids with even minor hearing loss, you can help support your ears and avoid auditory deprivation. Two hearing aids also help you hear important sounds such as speech through unwanted background noise. This is due to the brain using both of the ears to filter through information, when you’re only sending information to one ear, the can brain struggle to differentiate between important sounds and background noises. Having sound coming into both of your ears also gives your brain a better idea of where exactly the sounds are coming from, whether in front of you, behind you, or beside you. Two hearing aids can also help reduce tinnitus or painful and distracting ringing in the ears. It is believed that two hearing aids help to reduce tinnitus by drawing in and amplifying outside sounds which can relieve the ringing.
Not all hearing loss cases are the alike. There are in fact a few cases where two hearing aid instruments are not ideal, and they include when the person suffers from Unilateral hearing loss or with patients who also have dementia as too much stimulation can be overwhelming. There is one exception to only using one hearing aid when suffering from Unilateral hearing loss and that is if the balance is affected by only using one hearing aid.
Contact us today if you have any questions about hearing aids or if you would like to get your hearing tested. Krista Szalc, Audiology PLLC has three convenient hearing centers located in Western New York.