Why Does it Matter if You Wear Your Hearing Aids

Woman wearing hearing aids enjoys a hike with friends.

So you don’t use 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. Is it really important to use them more often than that?

The problem is that when you don’t wear your hearing aids on a regular basis, you’re creating some troubling disadvantages for yourself over time. Your hearing may get considerably worse. You could suffer from social isolation and mental decline. You may compromise your general health. So, if you’re not wearing your hearing aids, you should definitely pay attention to this.

Why Aren’t You Wearing Your Hearing Aid?

You most likely have a good justification for keeping your hearing aids in a drawer somewhere. You may have decided to keep those reasons to yourself. Maybe, when your family asks, you may even say something nondescript and evasive, such as, “I just don’t like them”.

Undoubtedly, though, there’s more to it than that. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll probably find that there’s a specific grievance at the heart of your irregular hearing aid use. Specific issues are positive because they create the possibility to find an equally specific solution.

What follows are some of the most frequent complaints;

“My Hearing Aids Don’t Feel That Comfortable”

Discomfort is one of the most frequently cited reasons for people not wearing their hearing aids. Sometimes, the hearing aid won’t stop falling out of your ear. Or maybe tenderness and pain are occurring in just the wrong spot with your over-the-ear model.

It’s not supposed to be uncomfortable to wear hearing aids, so something is certainly not right if they’re creating any kind of irritation. And soreness, frustration, and pain are not things you would wish from any piece of technology.

Possible solution: If you’re not comfortable with your hearing aids, think about scheduling an additional or follow-up fitting session. It’s quite feasible that the way your hearing aid fits simply needs a few quick alterations. The size and shape of your ear can even be the basis of an entire customization of some designs. The more comfortable your hearing aid is, the more likely you are to keep it in place for long periods of time.

I’m Experiencing Poor Quality Sound From my Hearing Aids

Maybe you don’t use your hearing aids regularly because you find the sound to be fuzzy or tinny. It’s not shocking that you’ve decided to put your hearing aids away for a special occasion, if that’s the situation.”

This tinny or fuzzy sound can happen because hearing aids are carrying out complicated auditory functions all the time, filtering out some sounds while trying to amplify others. So if your settings aren’t correctly tweaked, the sound quality might seem unreliable.

Solution: This challenge has two possible solution: upkeep and calibration. It’s possible that your hearing aids are damaged in some way or another and require repairs. But it might be possible that they basically need a simple calibration (normally this is something your hearing specialist can take care of for you).

Voices Are Muffled When I Wear my Hearing Aids

You want to hear voices clearly. When you first got hearing aids that was the whole reason! You didn’t want to miss a single word. So if all the voices you hear are difficult to understand and sound muffled it may be a little bit discouraging.

Because your brain and ears aren’t communicating very well anymore, this problem normally occurs when you first get your hearing aids.

Solution: Keep practicing. Your brain is going to have to become accustomed to hearing language again, so putting yourself in a position to hear people talking regularly will be helpful. Try reading along with closed caption to your favorite show or along with an audiobook. Simply having more discussions with the people who are around you is a great way to get some practice, too.

Finding Solutions

You can discover an answer no matter what the reason you’re not using your hearing aid. And it is vital, both for the health of your hearing and for your cognitive fitness, that you wear your hearing aids regularly.

So if you’re not using your hearing aids? Determine the problem and find a solution, so you can make your hearing aids, and all that they help you hear, part of your daily life. If you think your hearing aids need adjustment, contact your hearing care professional right away.

The site information is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Schedule an appointment to see if hearing aids could benefit you.