If you have a hearing loss in both ears, two hearing aids are often recommended to get the full benefit of wearing hearing devices.
Many people that have hearing loss may opt to get one hearing aid, even if they have hearing loss in both ears (binaural hearing loss). There are many reasons why this may not be the best decision regarding your hearing health. Hearing healthcare professionals always recommend two hearing aids if you have a binaural hearing loss for these reasons:
Increased understanding – When the brain receives input from both ears, speech understanding is enhanced, especially in background noise situations. Two ears hear better than one.
1. Improved detection of soft speech – With two hearing aids, it is easier to hear and understand soft speech.
2. Enhanced sound quality – With two hearing aids, sounds have a richer quality and the listener has a better sense of balance.
3. Better localization – When the brain receives sound from both the left and right ears, it is easier to locate the direction of where sounds are coming from.
If you don’t use it, you lose it. Just the same as if you don’t use your arm for an extended period of time and your muscles weaken and atrophy, the same can happen with your hearing. It is very important to keep your auditory nervous system firing. Studies have shown that individuals that wear two hearing aids instead of just one have better preservation of speech understanding over time. Hearing aids will not prevent hearing loss, but they may help you preserve the hearing you have left.
