So you don’t wear your hearing aids regularly? Maybe you put them in when you go to a party or go to the theater, but in most cases, you leave them in the drawer. Do you really need to wear them more often than that?
Over the long term, you make problems for yourself if you’re not wearing your hearing aids on a regular basis and that’s a problem. Your hearing could get significantly worse. You could suffer from cognitive decline or social isolation. Your overall health might be compromised. This content will help you comprehend why you should be using your hearing aids.
Why Aren’t You Using Your Hearing Aid?
If your hearing aids are sitting unused in a nightstand drawer somewhere, you probably have a reason. You may have decided to keep those reasons to yourself. Maybe you brush off the questions from your family when they ask why you’re not wearing them.
Stilted dialogue aside, we know that’s not the full story, right? If you dig a little deeper, you’ll likely find that there’s a specific complaint at the heart of your infrequent hearing aid use. Specific issues are good because they create the possibility to find an equally specific remedy.
What follows are some of the most frequent complaints;
“My Hearing Aids Don’t Feel Comfortable”
One of the most typically cited reasons that people discontinue using their hearing aids normally is discomfort. Perhaps the hearing aid keeps falling out of your ear. Or maybe tenderness and pain are occurring in just the wrong spot with your over-the-ear model.
Hearing aids aren’t supposed to be uncomfortable, so if they’re creating irritation of any kind, something is surely not right. And it’s logical that you wouldn’t want to wear a piece of technology that creates pain, frustration or soreness.
Possible solution: If your hearing aids are uncomfortable, consider scheduling an additional or follow-up fitting appointment. It’s completely possible that the fit of your hearing aid just needs a few quick alterations. Some models can even be entirely personalized to the size and shape of your ears. The more comfortable your hearing aid is, the more likely you are to keep it in place for long periods of time.
My Hearing Aid Has Poor Sound Quality
Maybe you find the sound of your hearing aid to be too fuzzy or tinny so you don’t wear them very often. If that’s the circumstance, it’s not surprising that you’ve opted to stow your hearing aids in a drawer somewhere and save them for “special occasions”.”
Hearing aids are completing complicated auditory functions all the time as they increase some sounds while filtering out others and that can cause a tinny or fuzzy sound. So the sound quality might seem unreliable if your settings aren’t properly adjusted.
Solution: There are two possible answers to this difficulty: maintenance and calibration. It’s possible that your hearing aids are broken in some form or another and have to be repaired. But it might be possible that they just need a simple calibration (generally this is something your hearing specialist can do for you).
When I Wear my Hearing Aid Voices Seem Muffled
When you listen to people talk, you want to be able to hear them clearly. When you first got hearing aids that was the whole point! You didn’t want to miss out on one word. So it might be a little bit frustrating if all the voices you hear with you’re hearing aid sound muffled or difficult to understand.
This generally occurs when you first buy your hearing aids because your ears and brain aren’t necessarily used to communicating all that well anymore (it’s like they had a falling out or something).
The Solution: Keep practicing. Your brain will have to become accustomed to hearing language again, so putting yourself in situations where you can hear people conversing regularly will help. Try reading along with closed caption to your favorite show or along with an audiobook. Another way to get some positive practice is simply by having conversations with people you come in contact with.
Finding Answers
You can find a solution regardless of why you’re not using your hearing aid. And you have to wear your hearing aid regularly in order to protect your cognitive health and the health of your hearing.
So if you’re not wearing your hearing aids? Recognize the issue and find a solution, so you can get active in your life again. If you believe your hearing aids need adjustment, consult your hearing care expert right away.