On 27 Dec 1997 15:43:33 -0800 "Lynda Madaras" <lyndamad at ix.netcom.com>
writes:
>My mother has a diagnosed hearing problem. She has heard that having
>hearing aids in both ears causes problems with background noise. She
>thinks it would make sense to try having an aid on one ear before she
goes to
>the expense of purchasing aids for both ears.
Quite to the contrary, people who wear two hearing aids have a
significant advantage in back ground noise over those who are wearing
only one. (See for yourself by listening to speech on your car radio
while driving with the window open. Plug one ear and see how much harder
it is to understand what is being said.) Our auditory system is designed
to use the information picked up by each ear to better "focus" in on what
is being said. Not to mention, determining where a sound originates is
nearly imposible with only one hearing aid (everything will seem to be
coming from the aided side.)
Most of my patients who have experienced one versus two have commented
that it is much easier to adjust to two hearing aids than it is to adjust
to only one.
Hope this helps,
David
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David J. Coffin, M.A., CCC-A, FAAA
Director of Audiology
Birmingham Otology Center
Birmingham, Alabama
