Do hearing aids need to be worn on both ears?Why?

Advantages of wearing hearing aids in both ears. Medical experimental research over the years has shown that the advantages of binaural matching are: * Improved speech understanding-Binaural matching brings more sounds than the brain needs for precise processing, making it work in noisy environments It is more convenient to understand speech in Chinese. * Enhanced sound understanding-the sound quality is better and the sense of balance is better in the environment of binaural hearing aids.By turning down the volume, the risk of interference can be greatly reduced, and the hearing fatigue caused by setting the volume too high due to wearing a hearing aid can be reduced. * Improved positioning-Binaural matching helps the brain to collect information from the surroundings more accurately, making it easier to locate the sound source.Sound source localization is very important in daily life.For example, it lets you know which direction to turn when someone calls your name, which direction the vehicle is coming from, and so on.


If there are both ear canalsHearing loss, It is necessary to wear hearing aids in both ears to compensate for hearing, and human hearing function is realized by both ears.Wear on both ears Hearing aid , The sound source can be located, and the sound will have a sense of three-dimensionality and space, and it will be better to listen in a noisy environment.


1. Improve the ability of sound source localization.
The human ear has a strong ability to locate sound sources.However, its prerequisite is that both ears must have the same hearing threshold.In the process of sound transmission in the air, there will be changes in energy and speed. If the hearing loss and the threshold are asymmetric, it is impossible to determine the direction of the sound source.Therefore, binaural matching can better improve the ability to locate the sound source.

2. Improve noise reduction and speech comprehension.
The auricle of the human ear has functions of sound collection and noise reduction.For a patient with hearing impairment, it is very important to improve the signal-to-noise ratio.Binaural wearing means that the two auricles have the ability to collect sound and reduce noise at the same time, which is of great significance for improving the ability of language discrimination.

3. Enhance binaural loudness integration effect.
The loudness of the sound accepted by binaural hearing is higher than that of single ear. At the threshold level, the binaural threshold is better than the single ear threshold by about 3 decibels.At the upper threshold level, the binaural threshold is better than the monaural threshold by about 10 decibels.Therefore, wearing hearing aids in both ears can slightly reduce the overall gain of each hearing aid, thereby reducing the possibility of acoustic feedback and increasing the battery life.At the same time, for severely deaf patients, it is more helpful to improve speech intelligibility after hearing aids.

4. Avoid the effects of delayed hearing deprivation.
The main reason for the auditory deprivation effect is that the ears with hearing aids send enough information to the brain, so that the brain no longer pays attention to the ears without hearing aids, and the brain seems to give up on the ears that transmit weaker signals.In order to avoid this phenomenon, the most effective solution at present is to choose both ears at the same time. Hearing aid .

5. Delay the decline of auditory nerve function.
To solve the phenomenon of auditory deprivation is to solve the gradual decline of auditory central nervous function.Life lies in movement, and the nerve cells in the hearing center rely on sound stimulation to achieve the purpose of movement.Therefore, it is very important for every patient with bilateral hearing loss to have both ears in a normal sound state, and it is very important to stimulate the auditory nerve through sound stimulation.

6. Improve listening comfort and participate in multi-person conversations.
Due to the optional hearing aids for both ears, it improves the ear’s own sound collection, noise reduction, gain, positioning, balance functions and fusion effects, and the user will greatly improve the signal-to-noise ratio and excellent listening to the sound signals heard. Comfort.

7. Eliminate head shadow effect.
If a patient’s hearing loss in both ears is asymmetrical, when the sound comes from the direction of the ear with the poor hearing, the ear with the better hearing will be directed toward the sound source, which is the cephalometric effect.In the fitting process, it was found that a considerable number of patients with one-sided matching would have difficulty listening to the sound from the opposite ear, often turning the ear of the hearing aid towards the other side.If the patient chooses to wear it on both ears, the head shadow effect will be resolved, and the voice from many sources can be easily and freely heard.

8. Suppress (mask) tinnitus.
The amplified sound of the hearing aid will suppress the sensation of tinnitus. If only one side is selected, the tinnitus on the other side may still exist, which will affect the comfort and clarity.Therefore, for deaf patients with tinnitus or brainnitus in both ears, in order to improve the comfort and intelligibility of listening, try to match the ears as much as possible, which can improve the hearing effect and feel that the tinnitus is eliminated.

9. Prevent unilateral hearing fatigue.
Most patients who use hearing aids on one side suffer from a lack of integration, noise reduction and orientation.In order to want to hear or hear certain sounds, the method of increasing the volume of the hearing aid is often taken without restriction.Over time, the auditory nerves of the brain adapt to loud sounds, which will cause the hearing threshold to increase.Binaural wearing can improve the integration effect, noise reduction and orientation ability, and will provide the ears with a relatively high degree of comfort and signal-to-noise ratio, which will avoid frequent unilateral increase of the volume and prevent auditory fatigue.

10. Reduce ear plugging effect.
The ear plugging effect is a subjective sensation in which the low-frequency perception loudness of self-produced sounds (such as speaking, chewing, swallowing, walking, etc.) is significantly increased.When the external auditory canal is closed, the larger the space left inside the auditory canal, the lighter the feeling of plugging, and vice versa.Because the binaural wearing can improve the integration effect, especially the energy integration of low-frequency sounds is reduced, and at the same time, the overall output gain of the hearing aid can be reduced.Practice has proved that for users who are first fitted or worn on one ear, the plugging effect is greatly reduced after wearing on both ears.

Wearing both ears will have a significant improvement in terms of use effect and clarity.

Link:      Do hearing aids need to be worn on both ears?Why?

REF: Hearing amplifierHearing LossDigital Hearing Aids
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