Will my hearing get wose if I don't wear hearing aids?
Because of auditory deprivation, it is possible your hearing could get worse. Auditory deprivation refers to a person’s lack of adequate hearing stimulation. With auditory deprivation, the brain gradually loses some of its information processing ability. Several investigations have shown that people, who wear only one hearing aid, experience a reduction in their ability to understand speech in the ear that has not been stimulated with an aid. The ability of the auditory system to process speech declines due to a lack of stimulation.
Several studies have confirmed the existence of auditory deprivation. Hurley studied 142 adult hearing aid users. Seventy-seven subjects used monaural hearing aids and sixty-five of the subjects used binaural amplification. Each subject was tested for word recognition ability one, three and five years post fitting.
Twenty-five percent of the monaural hearing aid users demonstrated a significant decline in word recognition ability in the unaided ear after five years. Subjects with greater hearing loss were more likely to experience the unaided ear effect. Only six percent of the binaural hearing aid users experienced a significant decline in word recognition. Another study by Silman found that thirty-nine percent of monaural hearing aids users experienced the effects of auditory deprivation. Only four percent of the binaural hearing aid users experienced a similar effect.
Many individuals with hearing impairment wait many years before they try hearing aids. They have gone for a long time without stimulation to either ear, and their ability to understand speech in both ears is often poor. Last month I discussed the benefits of wearing two hearing aids. Two aids are necessary for sound localization and hearing in noise. However, another benefit of wearing two hearing aids (binaural amplification) is to reduce the effects of auditory deprivation. The old expression “use it or lose it” seems to apply to our ability to hear and understand speech.