It is your brain that hears, not your ears!

A reminder that it is your brain that hears, not your ears!

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says the latest figures on life expectancy show a continued trend of living longer for both men and women. Boys born in the UK in 2023 can expect to live on average to the age of 86.7, and girls to 90.

While this is obviously a cause for celebration, it did start us thinking about the knock-on effects and the health conditions we’ll face as more of us live well into our eighties and nineties.

Age-related hearing loss is one of the most prevalent health conditions in older adults. It’s thought that, by the year 2050, 698 million people will have moderate-to-profound hearing loss. If that loss is unchecked, it can lead to a decline in cognitive function and reduced quality of life.

Today’s hearing aids are more advanced than they have ever been, but still there are many people who have them but don’t use them.

At The Hearing Clinic, new clients regularly come to us who have tried hearing aids previously and ‘not got on’ with them. 

While there may be various reasons for this, we think that many people, particularly older people, struggle to adjust to the louder sounds – finding them unnatural and overwhelming. Good hearing isn’t simply about hearing sounds louder, it’s about hearing better.

A new hearing aid user needs time to adjust to these sounds, which is why we take a gradual and staged approach when supporting new hearing aid users – increasing the volume slowly and only when it’s right for the individual.

A recent study has highlighted why some people give up on their hearing aids. The research used a small sample of 17 people with an average age of 75. All had age-related hearing loss and no history of hearing aid use, and were fitted with hearing aids on both ears then tested in six sessions.

The researchers found that using the hearing aids facilitated rapid increases in the brain’s ability to detect sounds. However, it took much longer – up to six months in some people – for the brain to integrate and adapt to the amplified sounds and experience them as natural sounds. When it can take so long to feel like you’re benefitting from hearing aids, it’s understandable that some people may give up on them.