So, it’s not very often that you use your hearing aids? Most of the time you keep them in the drawer unless you’re, for example, going to a party or to the theater. Is it actually important to wear them more often than that?
The concern is that when you don’t use your hearing aids on a regular basis, you’re developing some troubling shortcomings for yourself in the long run. Your hearing may get significantly worse. Social isolation and cognitive decline could be the outcome. Your overall health may be affected. So, if you aren’t wearing your hearing aids, you should certainly be reading this.
Why Aren’t Your Hearing Aids in Your Ears?
You probably have a good reason for keeping your hearing aids in a somewhere in a drawer. You may have decided to keep those reasons to yourself. Maybe 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. If you go a little deeper, you’ll probably find that there’s a particular complaint at the heart of your sporadic hearing aid use. And there’s also a very specific solution to your problem.
Some of the most common complaints include the following;
“My Hearing Aids Don’t Feel Comfortable”
One of the most regularly reported 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 intended to be unpleasant, so something is certainly not right if they are causing any sort of discomfort. And it’s logical that you wouldn’t want to use a piece of technology that creates pain, frustration or soreness.
Possible solution: If you’re not comfortable with your hearing aids, a follow-up fitting appointment is something you should consider. It’s completely feasible that the way your hearing aid fits simply needs a few quick adjustments. The shape and size of your ear can even be the foundation of a complete customization of some models. 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
Perhaps you don’t use your hearing aids very often because you experiencing the sound to be tinny or fuzzy. It’s not shocking that you’ve decided to put your hearing aids away for a special occasion, if that’s the situation.”
Hearing aids are doing complex auditory functions all the time as they increase some sounds while filtering out others and that can result in a fuzzy or tinny sound. So if your settings aren’t properly adjusted, the sound quality might seem unreliable.
Solution: This problem has two potential answer: calibration and maintenance. Your hearing aids could be damaged in some way or another and need to be
repaired. But your hearing specialist can perform a simple calibration which is all your hearing aids might require.
When I Wear my Hearing Aid Voices Are Muffled
When you listen to people talk, you want to be able to hear them clearly. That’s the whole reason why you purchased hearing aids in the first place! You needed to make certain you didn’t miss any relevant interactions. So it might be a bit aggravating if all the voices you hear with you’re hearing aid sound muffled or difficult to comprehend.
This normally happens when you first buy your hearing aids because your ears and brain aren’t necessarily used to communicating very well anymore (it’s like they had a falling out or something).
The Remedy: Keep practicing. Your brain is going to have to become accustomed to hearing language again, so putting yourself in a position to hear people conversing regularly will help. Try reading along to an audiobook or reading along with the closed captioning while you watch NCIS. Simply having more discussions with the people around you is a perfect way to get some practice, too.
Finding Answers
The point is regardless of what your justification for not using your hearing aids might, there’s an answer somewhere. And it is imperative, both for the health of your hearing and for your cognitive well-being, that you use your hearing aids regularly.
So if your hearing aids don’t seem to be working well for you? Identify the issue and come up with a solution, so you can get active in your life again. If you think your hearing aids need adjustment, contact your hearing care specialist as soon as possible.
