- A Closer Look at Common Myths About Hearing Loss - May 7, 2024
- The Impact of Pets on Emotional and Hearing Health - April 26, 2024
- Strategies for Coping with Single-Sided Deafness - April 16, 2024
The technology you use every day is constantly improving, from the latest smartphone app to your newest laptop, or state-of-the-art vehicle audio system. Hearing aids are no different, and recent advances in hearing technology makes modern hearing devices almost unrecognizable from hearing aids of the past. If you think you know everything about hearing devices, its time to look at hearing in a new way and debunk some of the myths about hearing aids.
Myth: Hearing Aids Will Make Me Feel Old
You may be envisioning a clunky hearing aid strapped to the back of your ear. Your friend got hearing aids 10 years ago, and they weren’t very attractive. But hearing technology has changed a lot in recent years, and you’ll be amazing at the difference. The small, sophisticated hearing aid you’ll pick out today will sit snugly behind your ear, or even disappear within your ear canal, so no one will notice you’re wearing assistive technology. Advanced digital technology means hearing aids are smarter than ever, and they have a wide range of programs and settings that can change automatically to match your listening environment. There’s nothing old about hearing clearly and being able to effortlessly interact with the world again will make you feel years younger.
Myth: Hearing Aids are for Severe Hearing Loss
You might think that since you have mild or moderate hearing loss, hearing aids aren’t for you. This couldn’t be further from the truth! If you had trouble seeing, would you wait to get glasses until you were almost blind? In the same way, getting hearing aids when you have first notice hearing loss will allow you to keep enjoying life to the fullest, hearing all the sounds around you, enjoying a vibrant social life, and easily participating in conversations. In fact, many hearing aids are designed for mild or moderate hearing loss, with programs tailored to meet your unique hearing needs. With amazing connectivity features, and the ability to control your devices from your smartphone, there’s a million reasons to get hearing aids early, and no good reason to wait.
Not only that but treating hearing loss early keeps your brain healthy. When you can’t hear certain sounds, cells in your brain that process those sounds start to die, meaning that even when you treat hearing loss in a few years, you’ll never get those sounds back. Because of this, living with untreated hearing loss has been linked to rapid cognitive decline, so treating hearing loss early could be the key to keeping your brain healthy.
Myth: Hearing Aids Will Make Everything Too Loud
If you’re considering hearing devices, you might think that hearing aids will over amplify sounds. You can hear some sounds just fine, so you’re worried that amplifying all sounds will be uncomfortable. Luckily, this is another myth about hearing aids. Today’s digital hearing aids work to reduce background noise, cut out feedback, and help you focus on important speech sounds. Not only that, but hearing aids can be adjusted in small increments, so they can be set to the exact level of amplification you need in any environment. You can even save settings, so switching between listening environments will be a breeze. You won’t have to waste time fiddling with your hearing aids turning the volume up and down and can rely on your devices to do all the work for you.
Myth: I Don’t Need Hearing Aids, I Only Have One Bad Ear
This is a common myth about hearing aids. While it’s true that one ear can hear better than the other, it’s very rare that hearing loss affects only one ear. A hearing test will help you determine your level of hearing loss, and what kind of hearing aids will work best for your exact situation. Usually, wearing two hearing aids, even if one ear is stronger than the other, will help you the most, allowing you to easily hear all the sounds around you, no matter which side they’re coming from.
If you’re ready to take the first step towards healthy hearing, visit us at New Leaf Hearing Clinic. A thorough hearing assessment will determine your level of hearing loss, and we’ll work with you to do away with any other misconceptions you might have about hearing aids so you can enjoy your life with clear hearing.