What are digital hearing aids?

The term DIGITAL is used so often today, it can be confusing. When the term " digital " is used when referring to hearing aids, it generally means the hearing aid is 100% digital. In other words, the hearing aid is indeed a " complete computer " . 100% digital hearing aids have been commercially available since the mid-1990s and they are wonders of modern technology. 100% digital hearing aids can process sound using incredibly fast speeds. Interestingly, most 100% digital hearing aids have some analog components, such as the microphone and the receiver. 100% digital hearing aids transform analog information into a digital signal and process the sound to maximize the speech information you want to hear, while minimizing the amplification of sounds you do not want to hear.

Digital technology is tremendous and it allows the audiologist maximal control over the sound quality and loudness of the hearing aid. Importantly, digital technology allows the audiologist to tailor or customize the sound of your hearing aids to what you need and want to hear. In summary, if you want the best technology -- get 100% digital hearing aids.

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Binaural Hearing Aids...Do I really NEED TWO?

YES! Basically, if you have two ears with hearing loss, and if both ears could benefit from hearing aids, you need two hearing aids. I know you were hoping to " get by " with only one hearing aid, people tried that for decades and it simply does not work very well.

In 2005, 86 percent of all new hearing aid wearers are fit binaurally (both ears).

Here's why...

It is important to realize there are no " normal " animals born with only one ear. Simply stated, you have two ears because you need two ears. If you try to amplify sound in only one ear, you cannot expect to do very well. Even the best hearing aid will sound " flat " or " dull " when worn in only one ear.

Yo do need two ears to tell where the sound is coming from (localiztion). Localization is very important for determining the origin of warning signals, alerting sounds and of course, conversational speech.

Using both ears together allows your central nervou system (your brain) to better focus on, and process sounds you want to hear (human speech) while more or less " squelching " (ignoring) sounds you do not want to hear (background noise). One ear working by itself cannot do this very well. The brain needs to compare and contrast loudness, pitch and the phase (timing) of the sounds from the two ears to make sense of it!

It's sort of like using your eyes. If you close one eye, you cannot get depth perception. In other words, if you were to close one, it becomes very difficult to tell how far something is in front of you. It is also difficult to read and you'll find you get tired more quickly as you are straining and working harder to make visual sense of the world. Of course, if you had two eyes that were far sighed, or two eyes that were near sighted, you wouldn't even think about getting a monocle...and that would be analogous to wearing one hearing aid.

Assuming you have two ears that hear about the same, you can do a little experiment at home to better understand how important binaural hearing is:

First, gently close just one ear, by simply pressing the little fleshy part in the front of your ear canal (the tragus) into your ear canal -- a little. Do not apply pressure, do not hurt yourself. Just close the ear canal to eliminate sound from entering the ear. The idea is to close that ear for about ten minutes while you watch TV or listen to the radio or speak with your spouse. Then, after a full ten minutes, remove your finger. What an amazing difference!

Binaural hearing allows a quality of " spaciousness " or " high fidelity " to sounds, which cannot occur with monaural (one ear) listening. Understanding speech clearly, particularly in challenging and noisy situations is much easier while using both ears. Additionally, using two hearing aids allows people to speak to you from either side of your head ?not just your " good " side!

People cannot hear well using only one ear. There are studies in the research literature that show that children with one normal ear and one " deaf " ear are ten times more likely to repeat a grade when compared to children with two normally hearing ears. Additionally, we know that if you have two ears with hearing impairment and you wear only one hearing aid, the unaided ear is likely to lose word recognition ability more quickly than the ear wearing the hearing aid.

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