If you don't wear a hearing aid, does this hasten the degradation of your hearing?

Lenny

This discussion was created from comments split from: Hi I'm Vicki. I worked as paediatric audiologist with children with complex needs. Ask away!.

Lenny

If you don't wear a hearing aid, does this hasten the degradation of your hearing? Or, does wearing an aid slow down the rate of hearing loss?
I was recently told that it would by a well known High Street firm's Audiologist and am highly sceptical as I feel they are just trying to sell me something.
I don't want to wear an aid just yet because my impairment is mild and causes me no problems except when there is significant background noise, such as speaking with someone whilst walking along a busy, noisy street.

VickiKirwin

Hi Lenny

Your hearing loss may naturally deteriorate further with time and wearing hearing aids won’t stop that happening, but it’s thought that the earlier people start wearing hearing aids the better. This is because the wearer often finds it easier to adapt to them when they are younger and the hearing loss is less severe. But if you don’t feel the time is right for you to have hearing aids then there’s no problem about waiting a while. Have a chat with close friends and family for their honest opinion on what they think you might miss out on in conversation - we frequently don’t notice the things we miss when hearing loss is quite mild as the brain is very good at filing in gaps for us. If your friends and family think you might be missing things or turning the TV up louder than they would usually have the volume then consider a hearing aid trial. You can ask your GP to refer you to the audiology clinic locally and good quality digital hearing aids will be provided free-of-charge by the NHS. There’s no need to buy any immediately if you’re not sure.

Vicki