If you have hearing aids you should wear them during all waking hours, apart from a few exceptions. Doing so will help ensure you are getting all the benefits possible from your device.
Why You Should Wear Your Hearing Aids All Day
- Gets you in the habit. Being a first-time hearing aid user is a big change. Incorporate them into your daily routine just like you do when brushing your teeth or washing your face. By putting them in first thing in the morning, you acclimate yourself to making them a part of your regular life.
- Helps you hear better more quickly. When you first start using hearing aids the difference in sound can be surprising. You may pick up on noises you had previously been missing. Whereas places with large crowds and lots of background noise might sound uncomfortably loud. The more consistently you wear your hearing aids, the quicker your ears and your brain will adapt to your new way of hearing and the less jarring it will be.
- Improves your health. Untreated hearing loss has been linked to several different health conditions like dementia, depression and an increased risk of falls. Wearing your hearing aids consistently can help decrease your risk of these conditions.
- Eases the stress put on your brain. When you struggle to hear, your brain works harder to understand speech and sound. This can lead to mental fatigue and trouble remembering conversations. Eventually it can even lead to auditory depravation. This means your brain goes so long without being able to hear a certain sound that it loses the ability to process them. The parts of the brain that process these sounds may shrink and atrophy due to lack of use.
- Can help slow or stop brain shrinkage. A small study found that wearing hearing aids “may reverse compensatory changes in cortical resource allocation”—in other words, negative changes in your brain may improve with consistent hearing aid use. Brain shrinkage may slow or stop, and your brain my begin to pick up on sound signals once more.
When Taking Out Hearing Aids is OK
There are certain times when it is recommended to take out your hearing aids. Obviously, you should remove them and store them somewhere safe before going to bed at night. You also want to avoid getting them wet, so you should take them out when you shower or before going for a dip at Green Acres Crestwood Pool.
Other than that, we recommend wearing your hearing aids throughout the day to get the most benefits out of your device.
For additional information or to schedule an appointment with one of our experts, contact the Georgia Hearing Center at ENT of Athens today.