A very common question we get here in our Lake Oswego office is “do I need two hearing aids or one?” There are reasons why only one hearing aid may be recommended such as if you only have hearing loss in one ear, or if one ear is so bad that a one will not help on its own. Outside of this, the arguments for wearing two at a time are very strong and supported by numerous studies.
Here are five reasons why two hearing devices are better than one:
1. Better understanding of speech in background noise.
It is hard enough to hear people with a lot of background noise when you have great hearing. Imagine hearing in someone in background noise with bad hearing. Our brain uses sounds coming in from both sides to help focus on speech in difficult listening environments.
2. Better ability to tell where sounds are coming from (localization).
This is important for determining the origin of speech, as well as warning signals and other alerting sounds. We use both ears to tell the direction of sound.
3. Avoid deterioration of hearing in the unaided ear.
Wearing only one hearing device can deprive the other ear of stimulation and can cause it to further deteriorate.
4. Better reception of sounds from both sides.
With only one hearing aid, you will still miss a significant portion of the speech signal when someone is speaking to you from the unaided side.
5. Wearing two hearing aids is less tiring.
Just like trying to read with only one eye is more tiring because you find yourself straining and working harder, the same is true with hearing out of only one ear.
People simply cannot hear very well with only one ear. The bottom line is if both your ears can benefit from hearing technology, you will get much better results by wearing one in each ear. If you have any questions about two hearing devices compared to one, please let us know.