Myths And Facts About Hearing Loss And Hearing Aids

In our daily lives, we often overlook the importance of hearing health, failing to recognize its significant impact on our overall well-being. This can lead to inadequate awareness, misinformation and incorrect assumptions about hearing loss and hearing aids. It’s essential to understand the truths and dispel the myths about these topics to ensure proper hearing care.
In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at hearing health and provide clarity on some common misconceptions surrounding hearing loss and hearing aids.

Hearing Loss Only Impacts Elderly People

One of the most common myths that we come across is that hearing loss only impacts the elderly. This is not true by any stretch of the imagination, as hearing loss can impact anybody of any age. You can lose your hearing, or it can start to deteriorate no matter how old you are. Sometimes this can be caused by outside factors and your lifestyle, while other times it can be caused by an underlying health condition.

It is true to say that hearing loss impacts the elderly more commonly than it impacts everyone else though. The older you get, the more chance there is of you losing at least some of your hearing, but it in no way is exclusive to this group of people.

Hearing Aids Are for the Ears as What Glasses Are to Eyes

A lot of people think that hearing aids are for the ears, what glasses are for the eyes and this is not the case. If you put on a pair of glasses with the right prescription then your vision can go back to perfect, or near perfect in a matter of seconds. This is not the case with hearing aids, as there is no way to fully restore the hearing that has been lost. While hearing aids will assist you by amplifying the sounds around you, your hearing will never quite be what it was.

The brain needs time to adjust to the sounds coming through the hearing aids, and this is something that doesn’t happen with glasses. You don’t need vision training for example to be able to wear glasses with success, but you may well need auditory training so that your brain can properly process the sounds.

Any Hearing Aid Will Do the Job

Some people seem to be under the impression that if you are experiencing some level of hearing loss, any hearing aid will do the job and give you back your hearing. This is not the case at all. There are many different makes and models of hearing aids, all of which are suited to different types of hearing loss. For example, the behind the ear model is more likely to be used for someone who has mild-to-profound hearing loss, while the in the ear model might be more suitable to someone with mild-to-moderately-severe hearing loss.

Everyone is different, and everyone’s level of hearing is different, so it’s going to be a case of deciding which is best for you based on your hearing test. You can speak to your audiologist and get their recommendation if you need hearing aids so that you know you have the right type for your needs.

Hearing Health Isn’t Going to Impact Any Other Health

The last myth that we’re going to be looking at is the idea that your hearing health isn’t going to impact any other area of your health. This is simply not true, and it’s completely unsafe to hold this belief. The ears are connected to pretty much everything around them and can heavily impact other areas of your health if they are not in the best possible condition.

For example, if there is an issue with your ears, then it’s possible for you to start experiencing issues with your balance, with your nose and with your mouth. Your audiologist will be able to figure out the cause of your hearing loss, if there is an underlying condition. If this is the case, they will be able to provide you the best possible treatment plan.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now have a better understanding of some of the myths and facts surrounding hearing loss and hearing aids. If you would like to find out more about either of these things, or you would like to get your hearing checked out, then you can get in touch with Atlantic Audiology at (401) 262-0170 to book an appointment. We look forward to hearing from you soon.