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Why Wear Two Hearing Aids? |
As most of you know, when someone has a hearing loss in both ears, we recommend wearing two hearing aids. Occasionally, someone will ask to purchase only one; sometimes a person has only one aidable ear. However, it is important to understand why two are better than one. We have brochures that provide information regarding this issue, but I would like to address this here.
Less power is needed
First, when two hearing aids are worn, less power is needed. This means that you can set your hearing aids at lower volume settings, which is better for your ears. Loud sounds are not as uncomfortable and listening becomes less stressful. Clarity is better, too.
Better sound depth
Second, you get better depth of sound with stereo than with mono. I think we all enjoy listening to steroephonic sounds more than just flat, mono sounds. Not only is it more enjoyable to hear in stereo, but it is more natural, and understanding is better.
Better sound direction
Third, having two hearing aids gives you the ability to determine the direction from which the sounds are coming.
Saves embarrassment
Fourth, hearing from both ears saves you from embarrassing situations. It is difficult to hear a person on an unaided side. Having both ears aided prevents this situation from happening.
Auditory intelligence reduction
Fifth, your brain needs information from both ears because both halves of the brain work in harmony. When your vision is impaired in both eyes, you need two corrective lenses. The brain converts the information it receives from both your eyes into one image. The same thing happens with your ears. This is explained in another article titled "You Hear With Your Brain". It's the brain that interprets the sounds that are carried from the ears, up the brain stem via complicated pathways. The brain receives different signals from each ear, and processes these into the rich sounds we hear. Some of these signals cross over and stimulate the opposite side of the brain, while others stimulate the same side. This is called "auditory intelligence." If both sides of the brain are not sharing information, then auditory intelligence is reduced.
Voice discrimination
Sixth, to hear better in noise, both ears need to hear. When you hear with one ear, voices all blend together, making it difficult to distinguish individual voices. This bears out in a restaurant situation. Even with two ears, voice discrimination can be difficult in a noisy environment, but with one ear, it is impossible.
Sound quality
Seventh, quality of sound is better with two hearing aids, and this makes for better quality of life. Those who have worn both monaural and binaural hearing instruments have reported the vast improvement in sound quality when wearing two hearing aids.
Comments from Beth Bell
I would also like to add that when one ear is doing almost all the work, this provides limited information to the brain. The brain becomes accustomed to processing this limited information. If it is not possible to provide amplification for both ears and a choice must be made regarding which ear to aid, certain factors should be considered.
If one ear is noticeably better than the other, meaning the brain has been getting the most information from that ear, and word discrimination is better in that "good" ear, then it is best to provide amplification to the better ear, rather than to the worse ear. This may sound backwards, but there is a good reason for this prescription. If a person were to purchase a hearing aid for the "bad" ear, then new information would suddenly be getting to the brain, and if word discrimination is poor in this ear, it would not necessarily be accurate information. The better ear that the brain had been depending upon for information would no longer be better, amplification-wise — and confusion may very well result.
It is simply best to provide amplification to the better ear, enabling it to provide better, consistent information to the brain. In so doing, the brain does not have to "rewire" itself to depend upon the "bad" ear. Again, this is only if it is not possible to provide amplification to both ears, and one must choose which ear to aid.
From information found in The Consumer's Guide to Hearing Aids, p. 17.
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| (Article 0505, originally published May 2005) |
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