Myth 1: Hearing loss is only experienced by the elderly.
As many as 40 percent of Americans with hearing loss are under the age of 60. It may also come as a surprise that 14.9% of children aged 6 to 19 years old are hearing imparied, too. While it is true that the risk of hearing loss increases with age, there are preventative measures you can take to lower your risk.
Myth 2: Hearing loss only affects your hearing.
On the contrary, untreated hearing loss increases your risk of cognitive decline, dementia, depression, and social isolation. Why? The constant effort to understand what is being said, referred to as “cognitive load” by researchers, puts great stress on the brain. This can take away resources that our brains use for short-term memory, along with other critical functions. Fortunately, hearing aids can reverse or prevent the cognitive decline associated with hearing loss.
Myth 3: If your hearing loss is mild, hearing aids can wait.
Only about one out of five people who would benefit from a hearing aid actually use one, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. Even if hearing loss only mildly affects your day-to-day life, this doesn’t mean it’s safe to wait until the problem gets much worse before correcting it. In fact, the longer you wait to get hearing aids, the more challenging it is for an audiologist to treat your hearing loss.
Myth 4: Hearing aids are clunky and ugly.
Gone are the days when there were only a few hearing styles in a very limited color scheme. Hearing aid technology has evolved leaps and bounds, offering patients a wide variety of discreet styles from receiver-in-the-canal, to units that are virtually invisible.
Myth 5: Hearing aids will make everything sound too loud.
Although hearing aids will make sound louder, their advanced sound processing and noise-reduction technology are designed to adjust to your surroundings. Whether you are at a noisy outdoor music festival or simply watching TV at home, your hearing aids will provide the appropriate amount of amplification so that you can enjoy all kinds of activities comfortably.
Myth 6: I have one bad ear, so I only need one hearing aid.
When people experience hearing loss, sometimes they learn to favor one ear over the other, which gives them a false assumption that one ear hears better than the other. The vast majority of people need hearing aids for both ears. This is because we need input from both ears to identify sources of sound, and be able to focus on specific conversations. Wearing two hearing aids, even if one ear is slightly better than the other, enables us to enjoy a much better sound quality.
For the past 20 years, Francis Audiology has served patients all over Southwestern PA. We proudly offer a wide variety of cutting-edge models, including wireless hearing devices and assisted listening devices. We have mask hooks available that go behind the neck and below the ears, to help prevent your hearing aids from falling out. Our dedicated team is ready to assist you with all of your hearing health needs. Request an appointment online to be seen by one of our certified audiologists, or call 724-441-8695 today.
