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Can a hearing aid be harmful?

There are a lot of myths about hearing aids, this causes someone who has just been told that they have a hearing loss to delay taking the step to a hearing aid for too long. Through our blogs we want to make the step to a hearing aid easier and more accessible. Good hearing ensures that you remain in contact with your surroundings and if you postpone a hearing aid for too long, you are really doing yourself short. A properly functioning hearing aid can really contribute to the quality of life!

One of the myths that our hearing care professionals are often told is that hearing aids can be harmful to hearing and can cause hearing loss to worsen. We want to get rid of this fable as soon as possible because this is absolutely not true ! Before digital hearing aids existed, we are talking about more than 25 years ago when there was an analog hearing aid. An analog hearing aid amplifies the sound that comes in and does not distinguish between soft, medium or loud sounds. If an ambulance came by with howling sirens, it was amplified 1 to 1, so too loud a sound came in and someone had a risk of noise damage.

So everything that came in through the analogue hearing aid was amplified just as loudly and as a result, a hearing impaired person could suffer noise damage. Fortunately, analogue hearing aids are no longer available and only digital hearing aids are used. The digital hearing aids do distinguish between soft, medium and loud sounds. If an ambulance arrives with sirens blaring, the hearing aid will mute the siren more so that the hearing is not exposed to too many decibels. The soft sounds are amplified more than the loud sounds, this ensures that there is more comfort in the sound but also that no hearing damage can occur by wearing the hearing aid.

Despite the fact that a hearing aid mutes loud / loud sounds, a hearing aid does not work as a hearing protector. Someone with a hearing loss can still suffer noise damage. It is important to protect your hearing during concerts, festivals or while doing odd jobs around the house. It makes no sense to turn off your hearing aid and hold it in in such situations, as this will close off your ear canal more and may cause slightly less sound to enter, but loud sounds also enter through the bone. Sounds are vibrations and the louder the sound, the more vibrations will pass through your skull. As a result, you can still suffer noise damage and it is important to use hearing protectors, even though you have a hearing loss.

So don’t wait too long to get started on a hearing aid, because it can bring you so much positive. If you have any questions or need advice, our hearing care professionals are available 7 days a week from 09:00 – 22:00 via the chat function!

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By Yvan Karman
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