So, it’s not very often that you use your hearing aids? Maybe you put them in when you go to a party or go to the theater, but otherwise, you leave them in your drawer. Do you actually need to wear them more often than that?
The issue is that when you don’t wear your hearing aids regularly, you’re developing some troubling disadvantages for yourself in the long run. Your hearing could get considerably worse. You could have problems with social isolation and cognitive decline. Your overall health may be affected. So, if you aren’t wearing your hearing aids, you should certainly be reading this.
Why Are Your Hearing Aids Not in
If your hearing aids are stored in a nightstand drawer somewhere, you most likely have a reason. Sure, maybe you haven’t really been forthcoming about what those reasons are. Perhaps you evade the questions from your family when they ask why you’re not wearing them.
Undoubtedly, though, there’s more to it than that. Normally, there’s a particular reason why you don’t use your hearing aids. Specific complaints are good because they generate an opportunity to find an equally specific solution.
Here are some of the most frequent complaints;
“My Hearing Aids Aren’t Very Comfortable”
One of the most typically reported reasons that people stop using their hearing aids frequently is discomfort. Maybe the hearing aid keeps falling out of your ear. Or perhaps pain and tenderness are developing in just the wrong spot with your over-the-ear model.
Hearing aids aren’t intended to be uncomfortable, so if they’re causing irritation of any kind, something is certainly wrong. And soreness, frustration, and pain are not things you would wish from any piece of technology.
Possible solution: If you’re uncomfortable with your hearing aids, think about scheduling an additional or follow-up fitting session. It’s quite possible that the way your hearing aid fits just needs a couple of quick adjustments. The size and shape of your ear can even be the foundation of an entire customization of some models. The more comfortable your hearing aid fits, the more likely you are to leave it in place for long periods of time.
My Hearing Aid Has Poor Sound Quality
It’s possible you don’t wear your hearing aids very often because you find the sound to be fuzzy or tinny. If that’s the situation, it’s not surprising that you’ve decided to stow your hearing aids in a drawer somewhere and save them for “special occasions”.”
This fuzzy or tinny sound can happen because hearing aids are carrying out complex auditory functions all the time, filtering out some sounds while trying to amplify others. So the sound quality may seem unreliable if your settings aren’t correctly adjusted.
Solution: This difficulty has two potential solution: maintenance and calibration. It could be that your hearing aids are damaged in some form or another and need to be repaired. But it might be possible that they just need a simple calibration (normally this is something your hearing specialist can do for you).
Voices Are Muffled When I Wear my Hearing Aids
When you hear people talking, you want to be able to hear them clearly. That’s the entire reason you bought hearing aids in the first place! You needed to make sure you didn’t miss any relevant interactions. So it may be a bit frustrating if all the voices you hear with you’re hearing aid sound muffled or hard to comprehend.
This usually occurs when you first use your hearing aids because your brain and ears aren’t necessarily used to communicating all that well anymore (it’s as if they had a falling out or something).
The Remedy: Keep practicing. Your brain will need to get used to hearing language again, so whatever you can do to help provide some repetition will help. Try reading along with closed caption while watching your favorite show or along with an audiobook. Just having more conversations with the people who are around you is a perfect way to get some practice, too.
Getting Solutions
The point is regardless of what your justification for not wearing your hearing aids might, there’s an answer somewhere. And you have to use your hearing aid regularly in order to protect your cognitive health and the well being of your hearing.
So if you’re not wearing your hearing aids? Determine the issue and find a solution, so you can make your hearing aids, and everything that they help you hear, part of your daily life. If you think your hearing aids need adjustment, consult your hearing care expert right away.