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So, why do you do so well (or poorly) with hearing aids while someone you know has quite the opposite experience? As always, that depends. We will cover some of the key reasons why there are so many different outcomes for different individuals using hearing aids.

– The most important point is of course, who fit the hearing aids? The professional and office who support you can make all the difference regardless of the type or cost of instruments you purchase. The right professional will be able to fit the devices acoustically and physically so they integrate into your everyday life and provide actual benefit – resulting in hearing aids you actually want to wear!

– What is your specific tolerance for environmental noise? There are many audiological factors which play part in how you perceive the sound received from a hearing aid and what you can handle before something becomes overly annoying or uncomfortable.

– What is your ability to understand (speech discrimination) what you are hearing? Given the proper amplification (hearing aids) what percentage of what you hear can you actually understand? This deserves a post of its own however, contrary to popular belief hearing aids do not restore hearing to “normal.” They are an aid to help you hear to the best of your ability. Some hearing aids are better than others at helping you do this and some people have a better ability to understand what they are hearing compared to someone with a lower “speech discrimination score.”

– What are your expectations? Everyone has different expectations of what they believe hearing aids should do for them. This one point alone can make one person be satisfied with a $40 amplifier and the other who spent thousands on a quality set of instruments be very dissatisfied.

We hope the review of these points helps to show why some are very satisfied with hearing aids while others simply don’t use them.