Though it may come as a surprise to many of you, wearing two hearing aids (for many types of hearing loss) is typically more beneficial overall in your rediscovery of better hearing health. The reason? Well, for one, most people learn that they have bilateral hearing loss, which is a technical term for hearing loss in both ears.
Just as when you get an eyeglass prescription with a specific diagnosis for each eye, your hearing care professional will assess your hearing loss and fit your hearing aids to best support your body’s natural binaural hearing, assuming that a hearing loss is identified in both ears.
What is binaural hearing?
Simply put, binaural hearing means hearing with two ears. This is something that humans and many animals naturally do, and the ability to hear with both ears not only helps us perceive and understand sounds, but also helps us understand spatial relationships, locate where sounds are coming from, and understand other details we might not immediately recognize as being sound-oriented.
What is the benefit of wearing two hearing aids vs. one?
Experts have concluded that those with hearing loss in both ears who are fit with two hearing aids vs. one are able to understand speech more clearly than those who do not, both in noisy and normal sound environments.
Additionally, the auditory nerves are better stimulated when two hearing aids are worn, and this active engagement of the auditory nerve is crucial in maintaining and preserving long-term hearing health. When these nerves go unstimulated, they can essentially atrophy and increase your risk of auditory deprivation which, should it occur, will make your hearing health worse and can deteriorate your ability to understand speech. Wearing two hearing aids can help prevent your risk of auditory deprivation.
As we mentioned earlier, wearing two hearing aids in support of your body’s natural binaural hearing can help improve your situational awareness, locate where sounds are coming from, and increase your safety by supporting your ability to understand the directionality of emergency vehicles and other potentially high-stakes situations.
Were these reasons not enough to support your or a loved one’s wearing of two hearing aids, remember that when it comes to modern music, television, movies, and other mediums with crucial sound components, that they are all designed with stereo hearing mind. If you enjoy the outdoors or hunting, locating where the sounds are originating is crucial. If your hearing is only supported at half its potential capacity, then the full spectrum of sounds you’re intended to hear might never be and can result in a tinny, unbalanced, and perhaps even confusing experience.
Cranking up the volume on a single hearing aid will, again, create an imbalance in the sounds you’re experiencing which can create a tiresome hearing experience and could even damage your hearing even more if you’ve adjusted your technology outside of the boundaries of what your hearing care provider recommends.
How can I learn more about the benefits of binaural hearing?
The easiest way to learn more about binaural hearing, hearing technology, and the state of your hearing health, is to book an appointment with a trusted hearing care professional, like those you’ll find at Beltone Tristate.
Beltone Tristate is a family-owned and operated hearing care practice that has been serving your friends and family for over sixty years! We’ve not only worked with thousands and thousands of your neighbors over the years in the pursuit of helping them achieve their best hearing, but we’ve also grown and learned as hearing healthcare professionals as testing, treatment, and technology has evolved over the years.
Our goal is to understand the true nature of your hearing condition, help you and your loved ones understand your hearing condition, apply the appropriate series of tests to best create that understanding, and then, if necessary, provide you treatment options that best reflect your condition, lifestyle, budget, and hearing goals.
We’ve seen time and time again that our patients’ satisfaction with their hearing treatment is far higher when they wear two hearing aids vs. one, and that by supporting their binaural hearing they’re experiencing a more balanced and natural sense of hearing. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
Isn’t it time to finally take control of your hearing health?
Call Beltone Tristate today to schedule your free hearing test!