#1

It it a good idea to take breaks from wearing the aids? Say, half a day every few days? I feel like my brain is dependent on sound from them?

#2

I donā€™t think thereā€™s anything wrong with taking a break, but it wonā€™t make your brain less dependent on them. Good reasons to take a break: theyā€™re irritating your ears, youā€™re finding sounds irritating and are tired, just because. However, itā€™s a good idea to wear them most of the time so your brain continues to hear a wide range of sounds.

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#3

I said that I am taking a break from wearing hearing aids 20 years agoā€¦ stopped wearing them after that. I only started wearing them recently as my hearing loss has got significantly worse. I doubt you would be that extreme but I suppose if you are at home and it is silent/not missing much, then there is no harm in it.

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#4

Your brain more than likely IS dependent on sound from them. While it is most beneficial to wear them all the time (even when it is quiet at home), I donā€™t see any drawbacks with taking a short break from them now and then.

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#5

LOL!!! Let me just submit: THATā€™S THE POINT!

Ah, you probably donā€™t have cinderblock ears like ME, cuz if I wanted to just ā€œtake a break for half a day every few daysā€ Iā€™d be in a car wreck DAY 1; run over by a bicyclist DAY 2; bang into a pedestrian coming up from behind DAY 3; step in the path of a fire truck roaring to its destination DAY 4; get mugged at the ATM cuz I didnā€™t hear anyone coming up from behind DAY 5; leave my wallet at Starbuck counter cuz I didnā€™t hear the clerk SHOUTING after me DAY 6; have a shark bite my leg off cuz I couldnā€™t hear the lifeguard on a bullhorn DAY 7.

And there goes the week.

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#6

@1Bluejay: What an excellent post! So excellent, in fact, that Iā€™m going to LAMINATE IT AND TAPE IT TO THE SHOWER STALL as one of my HEALING WATER MEDITATIONS!

(I may even SACRIFICE THE OCCASIONAL CHINA-MADE TRANSISTOR RADIO OR RECHARGEABLE HEADLAMP to the Antilectronic Water Gods come Vernal Equinox, or something!)

Ya never know!

(BTW: @1Bluejay will probably end up being the inventress of the first Hydraulic Hearing Aids :bathtub::hear_with_hearing_aid:t2::bathtub:)

[Addendum: Just to ne clear - I think itā€™s a bad idea ro ā€œtake a breakā€ from HAs. The auditory cortex needs the constant stimulation to remember what its job is, and how to do it.]

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#7

I typically spend a lot of time at home alone doing work that doesnā€™t require accurate hearing and where I want as few distractions as possible. During those times I much prefer to not be wearing aids.

#8

This morning I ran out of the house at 6:15 am for a CT appointment. At this time of the morning my brain is still in sleep mode! I got to Maccas to get my caffeine fix and I literally couldnā€™t ā€œhearā€ the voice coming out of the drive through speaker. My ā€œearsā€ as I call them were still in my dry box! :roll_eyes::roll_eyes: UGH!! Fortunately I could hear the voice coming out of the CT scanner.

You are very lucky to be able to hear without your aidsā€¦ Enjoy your break from using them.

#9

I have taken a break from wearing mine sometimes, and other times theyā€™re just not charged like I thought they were and the ā€œbreakā€ is forced upon me. I have to admit, itā€™s harder to go without them than it was when I was younger; especially trying to understand speech through a COVID mask.

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#10

Agree with blue Jay. The reason we get HAs is because we canā€™t here well. But if seems wearing them is making understanding worse or your brain lazy, I donā€™t think thatā€™s the case. I think we get used to hearing better and thatā€™s the goal. As we age our hearing generally declines, but that happens whether we wear HAs or not.

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#11

Iā€™m 100% with @SpudGunner here. Your brain has learnt to hear again (yes, itā€™s your brain that hears for you) and when you go back to your HAs after taking a break your brain will have the irksome task of having to relearn (itā€™ll do it faster than the first time, but it will still take time).

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#12

I m very curious about this. I wear hearing protection when I play certain instruments. When I first put them on, either when I first got the plugs or if I spend time playing without the plugs for a while, everything is tiny, muffled, hard to hear. After I acclimate to using them, I have no issues to hearing with them on. I am thus, more sensitive, to sound. Above a certain attenuation level (15-20db), this ceases to be the case; the muffled never gets better and I canā€™t acclimate to that level.

Wouldnā€™t using HAs sort of be the opposite and decrease sensitivity? Maybe this sensitivity is around 5db (making up a number) rather than a large difference and negligible to most people but Iā€™m really curious about the brain scienceā€¦

#13

I love this post.
Your week sounds like mine!

The forum suggested I read it. Iā€™m glad that I did.

DaveL
Toronto