It’s easy to find conflicting advice about hearing aids. One person says they’ll protect your hearing from further loss, and another warns they’ll weaken your ears over time. At New River Valley Hearing & Balance, audiologist and licensed hearing aid specialist Joanne F. Dillon, M.S., CCC-A, FAAA, can evaluate your hearing at our Radford and Floyd offices, explain what is causing the changes you notice, and help you understand what hearing aids can and cannot do. Hearing aids can’t reverse hearing loss, but they can amplify sounds so you hear more clearly.
What Makes Most Hearing Loss a Lasting Condition?
Most hearing loss is lasting because it develops when tiny hair cells in the inner ear become damaged or are lost, and these cells do not regenerate. Hearing aids cannot repair the damage, but they can make sounds easier to hear and help you communicate more comfortably.
Sound travels through the outer and middle ear to the cochlea, a snail-shaped structure in the inner ear. Thousands of hair cells inside the cochlea convert sound vibrations into electrical signals, which travel along the auditory nerve to the brain.
Hair cells can be damaged by:
- Natural aging
- Exposure to loud noise over time or from a single loud event
- Genetic factors
Some hearing problems, such as earwax blockage, which ear cleaning can address, or certain middle ear conditions, may be treatable. Hearing tests help identify the type and degree of hearing loss so you can explore the most appropriate options.
Do Hearing Aids Help Prevent Auditory Deprivation?
Hearing aids can help prevent auditory deprivation by keeping the auditory system active and engaged, even though they generally do not prevent or slow the physical progression of hearing loss. That steady stimulation may help preserve the brain’s ability to understand speech.
When hearing loss goes untreated, the brain receives less sound information over time. This reduced stimulation, known as auditory deprivation, can make the brain areas responsible for processing sound less active. As a result, patients may find speech increasingly difficult to understand, even once they begin wearing hearing aids.
Consistently wearing properly fitted hearing aids provides the brain with the regular sound input it needs to process. This helps maintain speech understanding, which is often more important than simply making sounds louder. Because many people wait years after noticing hearing difficulties to seek care, an earlier evaluation can make a meaningful difference.
Why Is Speech Easier to Understand With Hearing Aids?
Speech is easier to understand with hearing aids because they amplify the specific frequencies you have difficulty hearing. Rather than making every sound louder, modern digital hearing aids are programmed to match your hearing loss, listening needs, and surroundings.
Many speech sounds, particularly consonants such as “s,” “f,” and “th,” fall in higher frequencies that are often the first affected by hearing loss. When these sounds are difficult to hear, words can blend together or seem mumbled. By restoring access to these sounds, hearing aids help make speech clearer and easier to follow.
Many hearing aids also include features designed to support communication, such as:
- Noise reduction to help in busy environments
- Speech enhancement to emphasize voices
- Feedback suppression to reduce whistling
- Automatic adjustments as listening environments change
Hearing aids cannot eliminate all background noise, and some hearing difficulty may remain. Adjusting to amplified sound also takes time. Wearing your hearing aids consistently and sharing feedback with your audiologist helps you get the most benefit from your devices.
What Causes Hearing to Worsen After You Start Wearing Hearing Aids?
The natural progression of hearing loss is the most likely reason hearing worsens after you start wearing properly fitted hearing aids, not the devices themselves. Correctly fitted and programmed hearing aids are designed to support hearing, not damage it.
Some patients notice that sounds seem quieter or more distant when they remove their hearing aids. This happens because the brain becomes accustomed to clearer, amplified sound. It does not necessarily mean hearing has worsened, but any noticeable change should be evaluated.
Hearing aids include maximum output limits to keep amplification safe. Problems may occur when devices are too loud, poorly programmed, or not designed for the patient’s hearing loss. You should never wear hearing aids that belong to someone else. Distorted, uncomfortable, or overly loud sounds may indicate a need for adjustment.
Schedule a follow-up appointment if you notice:
- More difficulty understanding conversations
- Sounds that seem distorted or uncomfortable
- Frequent volume increases to hear clearly
- Changes in hearing in one ear
An updated hearing test can confirm whether your hearing has changed. In many cases, Joanne Dillon can reprogram your existing hearing aids to address new hearing needs.
How Does Joanne Dillon Help You Select the Right Hearing Aid?
Joanne Dillon helps you select the right hearing aid by evaluating your hearing, discussing your communication needs and lifestyle, recommending appropriate devices, and programming them for your specific hearing loss.
This begins with a comprehensive hearing evaluation to determine the type and degree of hearing loss. From there, the conversation may include where you have the most difficulty hearing, how active your lifestyle is, and which features may be most useful.
Hearing aids vary in size, style, features, and price, including behind-the-ear, in-the-ear, and in-the-canal designs. Joanne Dillon can explain each option and help you choose a device that fits your hearing needs, comfort, and budget.
Schedule a Hearing Aid Consultation in Radford or Floyd
If hearing changes are making conversations more difficult, a hearing aid consultation with Joanne Dillon, M.S., is a sound place to start. A hearing evaluation can clarify the cause of your hearing difficulties and help determine whether hearing aids or other treatment options are appropriate.
Our Radford and Floyd offices share one number. Call 540-731-4327 or contact New River Valley Hearing & Balance to schedule an appointment.
