Five Steps to Better Hearing, Part Three

Step Three – Learn all I can about my hearing problem.

The most effective remedy for hearing loss is personal education.  You need to learn all you can about your particular loss.  To begin, you will need to know:

What is the type of hearing loss I have?

What is the degree of loss in my left and right ears?

How has my brain been affected?

How do hearing aids bridge the gap?

What can I do to improve my hearing?

What type of hearing loss do I have? (Your hearing professional will provide this information as indicated by your hearing test.)

1. Conductive hearing loss:  Sounds isn’t conducted properly from the outer or middle ear into the inner ear.
2. Sensorineural hearing loss:  The inner ear is unable to properly transmit sound to the brain.
3. Mixed loss:  This is a combination of a conductive loss and a sensorineural loss.

When you first begin using hearing aids, your brain will be startled to receive signals it has been missing.  Until it becomes acclimated to these sounds, you will think to yourself…

• Everyone’s voice sounds odd to me.
• My own voice bothers me.  It sounds like I am speaking into a barrel.
• The hearing aids are noisy.  Unless I go into a quiet room, they pick up all sorts of distracting sounds.
• Will this condition improve with time?

Here is a simple example of how your brain will categorize sound and acclimate itself over time:

A beautiful house in a wonderful old neighborhood was for sale.  But what about the railroad track just beyond the alley?  The prospective couple was promised by the realtor that the train came by twice each day, but that they would never hear it.  “Just ask any of the other neighbors who had lived in the neighborhood for years!”  So, the couple bought the house and moved in.  For the first few nights they were awakened at 2:15 in the morning as the train lumbered by.  Then, after several weeks in their home, a friend came for an overnight visit. 

At breakfast the guest asked, “how can you sleep through the noise of that train?’  “Funny you should mention it.” The couple said, “We never hear it anymore.”  Did their hearing change?  No, the noise became a familiar part of their environment and their brains categorized it and became acclimated to it.

Because you haven’t heard normal sounds and noises for a long time, wearing hearing aids will be like moving into a new house.  At first, the sounds amplified by your hearing aids will sound tinny, metallic, artificial and unnatural.  But, this is because you are hearing the high frequency speech sounds (like /s/, /f/, /k/, etc.), you have been missing, or have heard different for years.  This unnatural sound quality will actually improve your speech comprehension — but only if you stick with your new hearing aids until your brain has a chance to adjust. 

And with practice and time, your brain will adjust.  Hearing and understanding involve more than the hearing organ.  Your hearing is a complex function which requires the cooperation of the brain and your other senses.

Understanding occurs in your brain, not in your ears.  Reacclimating your brain to true sound is a little like priming a pump; you’ve got to stay with it long enough for the water to flow.  Once it is flowing – and it will flow – the hardest part is over.  

Read Part Four