How Disorienting Are Hearing Aids?

Hearing aids are one the of most effective ways you can manage hearing loss. As well as improving your hearing function and improving your auditory experience, they can also reduce the symptoms of tinnitus and boost your confidence.

Despite this, many people worry that wearing hearing aids will cause them to feel disoriented or dizzy. In fact, some people even avoid visiting their audiologist when they’re experiencing hearing loss because they’re wary of using hearing aids.

Fortunately, there is no need to feel apprehensive about seeking help for hearing loss. With the right hearing aids, you won’t feel disoriented or off balance. Instead, you’ll simply be able to hear with greater clarity and enjoy a more enriching experience as you go about your day-to-day life.

How do hearing aids work?

Hearing aids have three basic components that enable you to hear more clearly. Firstly, a microphone receives sounds from the environment and converts them into digital signals. Secondly, an amplifier increases the strength of these signals and effectively boosts their volume. Finally, a speaker transmits the amplified sounds into your ear.

Of course, modern hearing aids use a range of technologies to deliver enhanced performance and improved functionality. Additionally, you’ll find that modern hearing aids have a range of extra features you can employ to enrich your listening experience.

Some hearing aids offer tinnitus masking features to minimize auditory disturbance, for example, while others have Bluetooth connectivity to enable you to link your hearing devices to your cellphone, tablet or computer.

Can hearing aids cause disorientation?

When you first start wearing hearing aids, it can take a little time to get used to hearing a wide range of sounds again. If you’ve had undiagnosed hearing loss for years, you’ve probably become accustomed to missing out on subtle noises, like the sound of leaves crunching under your feet or a knife slicing through vegetables as you prepare a meal.

At first, these sounds can feel excessively loud, which some people find surprising. However, this is simply because your ear needs to readjust to filtering the sounds around you. Your hearing aids are essentially kick-starting your ears into functioning again and it can take a few days or weeks to adjust to the change.

If sounds feel too loud or overwhelming when you first start using hearing aids, your audiologist can also lower the level of amplification and gradually increase it as you become accustomed to hearing subtle sounds again.

Once you’re used to wearing hearing aids, however, there’s no reason for them to cause disorientation. In fact, most people find that hearing devices actually stop them from feeling disoriented because they’re now able to hear what’s going on around them. If you do feel off-kilter or disoriented when using hearing aids, it’s likely that the settings on your devices aren’t quite right and this can easily be resolved.

Finding the right hearing aid settings

Everyone experiences hearing loss differently, so you’ll need to have your hearing aid settings customized to your needs. If you have moderate high-frequency hearing loss in your right ear and mild high-frequency hearing loss in your left ear, for example, each hearing aid would use different settings to deliver an optimal listening experience.

If you’re using the wrong settings or you’ve inadvertently changed the settings on your hearing aids, the sound may be unclear, too loud or too quiet depending on what the issue is. In some cases, people can find this overwhelming or disorienting but it’s easy to fix.

When you first get hearing aids, your audiologist will work with you to find the perfect settings for your needs. In addition to this, you’ll learn how to adjust the settings on your hearing devices in response to your environment. This means you’ll be able to check that you’re using the right settings on your hearing aids at any time and make adjustments if you need to.

However, you don’t have to modify the settings without assistance, if you don’t want to. A quick trip to your audiologist will ensure that your hearing aids are working properly and using the right settings, which can help to resolve any issues and eradicate any unwanted side effects.

Visit an Audiologist Today

A routine hearing function test can diagnose hearing loss and enable you to access any treatment you need. With expert advice from your audiologist, you can find the right hearing devices and custom settings to improve your auditory experience. To learn more, contact EarTech Audiology today at (866) 464-1008.