Chronicle of a deaf audiologist

You should wear your hearing aids consistently– here is why!

Some fascinating research outlines why it is important to wear hearing aids consistently:

 

In the second half of the experiment, some were able to ride a bicycle!

If they had been able to remove the goggles for any length of time during the experiment, the results would not have been the same; the brain needs consistent input (and time) to reorganize and make sense of this upside-down world.  When they took the goggles off, the subjects felt very dizzy for a little while—not permanently, though, thanks to brain neuroplasticity.

How does this research apply to hearing?

Hearing aids will sound unnatural, tinny, and/or echoey until you “get used to them.” We know now that “getting used to them” is mostly about brain re-organization. And this does happen!  Consistent use and time are the two essential factors.

Unfortunately, when people complain about unnaturally sounding, tinny hearing aids, and the hearing care professional makes adjustments to the hearing aids, the result is less amplification. The algorithms and prescriptive fittings that the hearing care professional uses for the initial settings are based on solid science, and it’s not necessarily a good thing to deviate from them.

  • Photo credit:  © Alan Fortune

    Sandra Vandenhoff

    Dr. Sandra Vandenhoff is an audiologist with hearing loss, founder of HEARa, Hearing Rehabilitation teacher, and Canadian author, who does not remember saying on her first day of wearing hearing aids: "Mom, I can hear my shoelaces!"

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