How wearing hearing aids (and taking them off) can support your wellbeing.
Photo credit Brett Sayles, Pexels. Black and white photo of a bald man with beard looking away from the camera. He is wearing black glasses and a cochlear implant.
You’ve had a feeling you might need hearing aids for a while, perhaps others have pointed this out to you, or maybe you’ve been struggling to hear more than usual.
It’s obvious that hearing aids will help with your hearing, but they can also help improve your wellbeing.
How hearing loss effects wellbeing
Having hearing loss is a bigger issue than simply not being able to hear everything that you used to. Not being able to get involved in conversations, having to constantly ask people to repeat themselves and being brushed off with ‘it doesn’t matter’ can take it’s toll on your mental health.
Feeling angry or upset are common responses to daily frustrations. Not only do you have to deal with your own worries and concerns about your hearing, you have to deal with the responses of others, which aren’t always kind.
Listening Fatigue
Even when people do take the time to include you, meetings or social events where you need to listen for long periods of time is exhausting. This is because your brain is working harder to hear and comprehend everything. This can lead to tiredness, headaches and listening fatigue.
Missing out
Feeling left out is a common feeling when you have hearing loss. Missing out on the small talk that people don’t consider important enough to repeat. But so much of the big stuff in life is made up of small things.
Keep reminding people to involve you. Let them know how it feels to miss out on things and feel isolated. It’s possible they don’t know how you are feeling and want you be feel included.
Taking the next steps
If you think you have hearing loss or any problems with your ears, it’s essential to see a specialist as soon as possible. Get checked out for any infections as well as having a hearing test.
If you find you need hearing aids there are lots of options available, you can pay for hearing aids privately or go through the NHS.
Types of hearing aid
The type of hearing aid that will benefit you depends on the type and severity of hearing loss that you have.
There are aids that sit completely in the ear canal, and others that fit behind the ear and connect to the ear with a tube or mould. In general, larger hearing aids tend to be more powerful than the ‘in the ear’ type.
Bone anchored hearing aids are hearing aids that attach to the side of the head with an abutment or magnet. These are generally for conductive hearing loss, where the sound can’t reach the hearing nerve for some reason, but the nerve is working.
Cochlear implants have a processor which replaces the hearing nerve. Another part of the processor attaches to the side of the head with a magnet and a sound receiver sits behind the ear.
It’s very confusing at first, but the more research you can do, the easier it will be to make a decision.
Benefits of hearing aids
By amplifying the sound around you, you can hear many of the things you started to miss out on. You can feel involved and part of things again. You may also find that you feel more confident in social situations or when talking to new people.
There are lots of different programmes that can improve what you can hear in different environments such as being outdoors or in a restaurant.
Some reduce background noise and others can make speech clearer. This will vary depending on the type of hearing loss you have and the type of hearing aid you have.
Getting used to hearing aids
If you’ve been putting off getting hearing aids for a while, everything may seem too loud when you first wear them. This is because your brain has got used to it being quieter. If things are too loud, turn the volume down. Each day, turn the volume up a bit.
If after a few days you still aren’t getting on with them, go back to your audiologist to get them adjusted. They may have sounded good in a quiet audiologists office but once you’re back in your day to day life that may change. Audiologists are used to this, so don’t worry about going back to them.
Try your new hearing aids out in different situations to get used to the different programs. You may find you like some better than others.
Explain to friends and family that you may need time to get used to them and your hearing may not be perfect with hearing aids (they’re an aid not a cure), so they may still need to repeat things sometimes, get your attention before speaking and not talk to you from a different room.
Apps and streamers
There are lots of accessories that go with different hearing aids. Some can stream sound from your tv or pc or mobile phone. There are lots of different microphones that stream to hearing aids. From ones that a speaker can wear to ones that sit on a table during a meeting. There are remote controls that help you change settings on your hearing aid quickly and easily, and some have apps that allow you to control your hearing aids from your mobile phone.
All this technology can help you to engage again in things you enjoy, things that give you energy and support your wellbeing.
The importance of quiet time
I got on a bus recently, it was fairly busy but for some reason everyone was sitting at the front, the back was empty. I sat down at the back and as the bus started, the engine (behind the back seats) started making loud banging noises.
This was why everyone was sitting at the front.
Instead of joining them, I turned my hearing aids off.
Peace and quiet and room to stretch out.
Bliss.
As great as hearing aids are, being bombarded with noise all the time can be tiring. Even with hearing aids, you brain is still working hard to make sense of all the sounds. It’s common for people with hearing loss to feel on high alert all the time, listening for noise in case it’s something important.
Taking your hearing aids off for a while can give your mind and brain a rest. Some quiet time after a busy day is refreshing. There’s no need to make the effort for a while.
It’s like putting on a cosy pair of slippers when you get home.
My favourite time to do this is when I’m cooking dinner. I can focus completely on what I’m doing and relax. If someone wants something they have to use sign language.
Let others in the household know you’re having a hearing break. If they need you for something tell them to write it down. (Alternatively it’s an excellent opportunity for them to practise their sign language skills.)
Letting others know also means that they can listen out for the doorbell or anything else that needs attention.
Think about things that you enjoy that you don’t need hearing aids for. Do you really need to wear them when reading? Doing crafts? Gardening?
Being comfortable with the quiet is just as important for your wellbeing as getting used to noise and conversation again.
How will you spend your quiet time?