Ever ask yourself “what would it really be like to wear hearing aids”? What would your best friend say if you asked candid questions about what it sounds like, what it feels like, and how they really feel about wearing one? If you truly want to know what hearing aids are like, you need to come in for a demonstration, but for now, continue reading for a summary of what you can expect.
1. At Times You Get Feedback
This isn’t the kind of feedback that you get when someone tells you how they feel about your performance. When a microphone and a speaker detect each other’s signal, they interfere with each other resulting in a high-pitched screeching sound. It creates a sound loop that even modern speakers like the ones in hearing aids don’t know what to do with.
They may squeal like a speaker in the school auditorium just before the principal speaks.
Even though this can be unpleasant, when hearing aids are properly tuned, it’s rare. You might need to re-fit or replace the earmolds if this continues happening.
Some state-of-the-art hearing aids have a feedback cancellation system that identifies feedback and stops it in its tracks.
2. You Can Follow Conversations in a Noisy Restaurant
Eating dinner out with the family can feel like eating dinner alone if you have neglected hearing loss. Conversations are virtually impossible to keep up with. Most of the evening, you may wind up just nodding and smiling.
But today’s hearing aids have the advanced noise blocking capability for background sound. They bring the voices of your children and the servers into crystal clarity.
3. At Times it Gets a Little Sticky
Your body has a way of telling you when something doesn’t belong. If you eat something overly spicy hot, you secrete more saliva to wash it out. If you get something in your eye, you produce tears to flush your eye. Your ears have their own way of getting rid of a nuisance.
Earwax production.
As a result of this, earwax accumulation can sometimes be a problem for individuals who wear hearing aids. Luckily, it’s just wax and it’s not a problem to clean the hearing aids. (We’ll show you how.)
Then you’ll just put that hearing aid back in and begin enjoying your hearing again.
4. Your Brain Will Also Get The Benefit
This one might surprise you. When someone develops hearing loss, it very slowly starts to impact brain function if they don’t have it treated as soon as possible.
Fully understanding spoken language is one of the first things you lose. Solving problems, learning new things, and memory will then become challenging.
This brain atrophy can be slowed by wearing hearing aids as soon as you can. They re-train your brain. Studies show that they can decrease mental decline and even reverse it. In fact, one study conducted by AARP revealed that 80% of people had improved cognitive function after managing their hearing loss.
5. The Batteries Need to be Replaced
Many individuals simply hate managing those little button batteries. And they seem to run out of juice at the worst times, like when you’re about to hear “whodunnit” in a mystery movie, or just as your friend is telling you the juicy details of a story.
But most of the perceived difficulties with these batteries can be easily resolved. There are strategies you can use to greatly increase battery life. The batteries are small and inexpensive, so it’s easy to carry an extra set in your wallet.
Or, nowadays you can purchase hearing aids that are rechargeable. When you go to bed, just put them on the charging unit. In the morning, simply put them back on. You can even get some hearing aids that have solar-powered charging docs so you can charge them even if you are camping or hiking.
6. You Will Have a Learning Curve
Nowadays, hearing aids have advanced technology. It’s much easier than learning to use a computer for the first time. But adjusting to your new hearing aids will certainly take some time.
The longer and more routinely you wear hearing aids the better it gets. Throughout this adjustment period, try to be patient with yourself and your new hearing aids.
Anybody who’s been using a set of hearing aids for 6 months or more will tell you that it’s worth it.
This is what it’s actually like to use hearing aids. If you want to find out, call us.
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References
https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/info-07-2013/hearing-loss-linked-to-dementia.html