While some people have hearing loss in only one ear, the norm for age-related hearing loss is to have some degree of trouble hearing in both ears. If you’ve decided to get hearing aids, you may wonder if two are actually necessary – isn’t it actually possible to hear better with one hearing aid and then just turn your head toward sounds you need to hear? It seems to make sense. After all, our ears aren’t that far apart.
However, binaural hearing – that is, hearing in both ears – is important for a variety of reasons related to the mechanisms of hearing and how our brains process sound. Not only must the sound be interpreted, but the brain must also locate where it is coming from. Additionally, our brains must combine sounds that belong together, suppress echoes and sort through background noise. These things can be difficult for people without hearing loss in particular situations. So for those with hearing loss, it can be extra challenging for the brain and ears – especially just one hearing ear – to complete all of these tasks.
Here’s why two hearing aids may make sense:
Sound localization
As it happens, our ears work in unison to determine where sounds are coming from and to interpret them, even if that sound is coming from a location closer to one ear. In fact, if you have moderate hearing loss and only use a hearing aid in one ear, there is a huge difference in the loudness, pitch and timing of the sound as heard only through one ear, rather than two. This makes processing extra difficult for the brain. While two hearing aids cannot restore your normal hearing to how it was before your hearing loss, they will offer you a more natural experience and make hearing less work for your brain.
Hearing preservation
Some hearing healthcare providers believe that if you only wear one hearing aid, the other ear will not be stimulated, which might lead to lost hearing ability over time. Others believe that wearing only one hearing aid changes how your brain processes sound. Maximize the hearing you do have by wearing two hearing aids to stimulate both ears equally.
Filtering out background noise
Many hearing aids today are very advanced and do a great job filtering out unwanted sounds in noisy situations. If you have two hearing aids, two microphones means double duty from directional and amplified sound. If you only wear one hearing aid and are in a noisy place like a restaurant or the mall, your unaided ear will not be able to ignore background noise – a common problem of those with hearing loss.
Minimize feedback
When you wear only one hearing aid, you’ll need to turn the volume up to account for what you’re not hearing in the other ear. This increases the likelihood that you’ll experience feedback. In contrast, with two hearing aids, you can have the volume turned down by about 10 decibels and you are still likely to hear more than you would with one aid due to less annoying feedback.
