Just like your eyes, your brain develops a better understanding of "pictures and sounds" using dual inputs; either eyes or ears-- the sum is greater than the total of its parts, sort of speak.
"100%" means that your functioning at 100% of your present capabilities -- not that you hear as perfectly as you did when you were a ten-year-old.
You'll put yourself at significant disadvantage if you use only one hearing aid.
This is the best I can recall the audiologist's statements and positions when I asked him similar questions. A relative used to use only one hearing aid but finally realized the value of two when everyone around her got tired of shouting things two or three times.
OK let me restate it. defining present capabilities as 100%. if my current hearing is 80% and 70% of my optimal for my age and I increase my 70% to 100 of optimal I would have one ear at 80% of optimal and the other at 100% of optimal with one hearing aid in the worst (70% ear) If I put hearing aid in best ear I would have 70% in one ear and 100% in the other. Like I said, it’s not just a numbers game. The Whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The brain habituates to certain conditions. If you were to wear both hearing aids sometimes and not others, your brain wouldn’t know what condition to habituate to. With both hearing aids, your brain would eventually be trained to ignore loud, or “inconsequential sounds” but without them, it recognizes all sounds and isn’t trained to ignore unimportant sounds like it would if you wore hearing aids all the time.
Likewise, using only one hearing aid may train your brain to concentrate on the strong ear and ignore weaker inputs from your other ear. As a result, there is much less “brain input” from the weaker ear and the strong ear would be carrying the most of the hearing load.
assuming that I consider the 80% of optimal to be satisfactory, and using only one hearing aid, my hearing would be satisfactory? with one aid in my worst ear? I don’t think so for the reasons stated above.
and "You'll put yourself at significant disadvantage if you use only one hearing aid." the amount of disadvantage would depend on how bad the good ear is. If you are trying to talk yourself out of buying a second hearing aid, go for it but I don’t think your “theory” is as solid as you believe it to be.
If my ears were 99% and 70%, one hearing aid in the bad ear would make me end up with pretty good hearing. See above.
I realize that many of my bodily functions won't be the same as when I was 18 years old, but lets not go there. I don’t think I explained that enough. Hearing aids amplify frequencies that the wearer requires to create “normal” input. They can’t repair hearing damage or loss – only amplify those frequencies necessary to help the wearer hear better. People with hearing aids will never hear as well as those with normal hearing, regardless of age.
I’m familiar with hearing aids but I’m not an audiologist and can’t explain it any better than I have. I have certified the above to be true to the best of my knowledge and interpretation of the audiologist's explanation.
Audiologists don't seek to, in fact cannot, restore hearing to 100%. With hearing aids, they usually aim for the borderline region, or 15 dB to 30 dB losses, as the patient tolerates.
Amplified hearing is not like natural hearing. With hearing aids, everything is amplified. As amplification increases, the brain’s ability to filter out the unwanted sounds decreases. The sound of hair brushing against the hearing aid is amplified by the same margain as a lawnmower. Amplifying the better ear has a better chance of being tolerated than amplifying the worse ear, as the lower level of amplification allows the brain to filter more unwanted sound out and a higher level of amplification is more likely to be perceived as purely annoying, which leads people to quit wearing them.
Percentages are a terribly inaccurate way to express hearing levels or losses because useful sound isn't experienced at the extremes of frequency and volume. Without more accurate expressions of your hearing loss (in decibels) I wouldn't begin to judge whether or not you should be fitted with one or two hearing aids.
Baytoven wrote: Amplifying the better ear has a better chance of being tolerated than amplifying the worse ear, as the lower level of amplification allows the brain to filter more unwanted sound out and a higher level of amplification is more likely to be perceived as purely annoying, which leads people to quit wearing them.
Very good explanation, Baytoven, thanks for that. And I know it is true with my mom and some of her friends, that they end up not wearing the hearing aid in the "bad" ear, which has probably been bad for a very long time. Not only are the louder noises distracting but physically, to wear an inside-the-ear instrument for little improvement seems to just be too much aggravation. At the same time, I can appreciate how an audiologist can view wearing two hearing aids as a technically superior fit. With the elderly, I'm finding, you have to factor in tolerance.
Judy & Bud (Judy usually the one talking here)
2004 Pleasure-Way Excel TD
co-pilots, Rosie & Poquita
I have been wearing hearing aids for over 30 years and never have I heard of the dealer handing over an aid with out fitting the aid!
That seems like very poor business practice to me.
When I started wearing aids I had to replace them (2) every 4 years.
They started at about $600.00 per ear.
After 4 years the price was now $900.00 per ear.
Just 4 years ago I finally went to the VA Hospital on my BIL's advice and got 2 new hearing aids for free! Value? About $1300.00 per ear.
I will be getting another set in about a week for free and they are the most advanced aid out there, will adjust to noise levels automatically.
Cost? The same as 4 years ago.
If you are a vet go get them free. You only pay $50.00 for the visit to get tested.
Good Luck & Drive Safe!
I just had lunch with a friend who was wearing one. fit behind the ear with a tiny almost invisible clear tubing into ear. but he said it had an "air battery' whatever that is that would last only about 4-6 days?
seems like a pain to have to change that often but they were cheap?
bumpy
The higher you turn the volume up on the aid, the quicker the batteries deplete!
I wear 2 aids and my batteries last 2 weeks or more.
But I get a 6 month supply in the mail free from the VA hospital.
Hearing aid batteries are activated by peeling a sticker off the back, exposing them to air to activate the chemical reaction that produces voltage. Average life span is about 2 weeks for typical digital hearing aids for less than a profound loss. Battery life depends on amplification levels and programming, but getting only 4-6 days out of a battery is pretty limited battery life, assuming he isn't using a higher drain device like wireless FM receivers. If your friend's batteries are Radio Shack or perhaps a drug store brand, he might appreciate a longer battery life from the name brands like Energizer, Duracell, and Rayovac. If that doesn't work, I would recommend he take his hearing aids for servicing. Changing batteries constantly sometimes indicates a malfunction.
We buy Rayovac batteries at Costco, and have been quite pleased with them.
A good method for monitoring battery usage is to put the stickers from the batteries on a calendar. Then you can easily see how quickly you're going through them. To keep track of which hearing aid is using batteries, place the sticker with the tab facing to the right for the right hearing aid, and to the left for the left aid.
A good method for monitoring battery usage is to put the stickers from the batteries on a calendar. Then you can easily see how quickly you're going through them. To keep track of which hearing aid is using batteries, place the sticker with the tab facing to the right for the right hearing aid, and to the left for the left aid.
That's very clever, thank you for the idea. I don't know about other models, but Mom has to open her Oticon hearing aids at night when she takes them out, to keep the batteries from running down. If she forgets to open the little trap door, battery life is greatly shortened.
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