why do i need to wear hearing aids?

Question

I have high frequency hearing loss. I'm 17 yrs old and entering 11th grade. I don't want hearing aids, but the audiologist and my dad think I should wear them.

Answer 1

I am biased, because I am an audiologist. When you have a high frequency hearing loss you miss a lot of important speech sounds. These are the speech sounds that are vital to hear to get the meaning of the word. If you miss the meaning of words, then you miss the meaning of phrases and it makes it quite difficult to understand teachers and friends. This could impact you greatly educationally, as well as socially. Oftentimes you have only one chance in the classroom setting to get the information from a lecture. Of course your friends are willing to repeat things to you, but do you think that they enjoy having to stop and repeat things to you?

There are devices that are designed specifially for high frequency hearing loss these days that are very high tech looking and may be more acceptable to wear by you - check out www.my-delta.com. Ask your audiologist if your hearing loss is in the fitting range for this device. Everyone will think you have a blue tooth device or something other than a hearing aid.

Good luck and give yourself every chance possible to succeed educationally. If you had a visual problem would you just sit there and squint at the board and decide that the stuff on the blackboard wasn't that important anyway??

Answer 2

Sorry to hear about that. Yes it sucks to wear hearing aids, just like glasses, retainers etc. It is also unusual for young people to suffer with a hearing loss (compared to vision problems for example). But the reality is it has happened to you. If you choose not to face it you could hurt your education and your social life by not hearing some important things. This could hurt you more than the embarrassment of wearing hearing aids.

The good news is hearing aids these days are nothing like you imagine them to be. They invented this cool new device last year which works amazingly well for a high frequency loss. I've provided a link to it for you to look at. When worn this device is completely hidden and very comfortable. It doesn't block the ear like many hearing aids do which allows the natural sound in and then pops in the highs you need to hear better. This will give your hearing much greater clarity without cutting out the stuff you already hear okay. They are automatic and you don't have to do anything, just pop them in. One of my patients wore a set for four days before his own wife noticed he was wearing them!

The kind of hearing aid to ask for if they don't carry this specific brand at your hearing center is a non-occluding OTE (not BTE) digital hearing aid.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Hi ups94,

I understand youre situation. I'm 18 and just graduated high school and am in the process of getting my first hearing aids.

I have a mild hearing loss, so I'm still able to hear most of what goes on around me. That said, I do notice that I have to ask my friends to repeat things, especially if we're whispering of it there's a lot of background noise. So, it was no big surprise when my audiologist told me that I have a mild hearing loss.

I decided to go ahead and get hearing aids. I think that their benefits (helping me hear) will outweigh the costs of wearing them (social awkwardness). Also, I'm looking into different types of hearing aids. Some of the new BTE (behind the ear) models are quite small, and may be a good match for me. I'm not really looking at CIC (completely in the canal) aids because I cant handle such a small object. ITE (in the ear) or ITC (in the canal) aids are also a possibility.

I've spoken to a kid in my school who wears hearing aids. He says that he hasn't really had too many issues with people making fun of him because of his hearing aid. He says his main strategy is to not be embarassed by it. When people start teasing, and he shows that he has no problem with it, they tend to stop, because they arent accomplishing anything.

Obviusly I'm worried about showing up at college and meeting new people while I have a hearing aid on. I hope that people will be understanding and accept me for who I am, not for my disability.

Good luck with your decision. Maybe try working something out with your dad, like you'll try them over the summer with a few close friends, and if that goes well, you'll wear them to school.

Most importantly, though, get hearing aids, so that even if you dont always wear them, theyll be available to you if you need them.

Answer 4

If you can't hear the things you should hear you need to wear them. You are young and don't want people to see them i get that , but wouldn't you rather be able to hear them. Your friends will still be your friends. If someone jokes , joke along with them. Don't let others make you feel bad about them.