Hi Whadyousay,
I’ve got mild hearing loss and have recently tried a demo pair of hearing aids. The benefits are clear during the short time I’ve used hearing aids (four weeks at the time of this post). I am able to hear my girlfriend during conversations without any trouble now. Without hearing aids I was constantly having to decipher what she said to me. The same is true for meetings at work. In general, I find my need for hearing aids depends on the person speaking. Some people I can hear without any trouble at all and therefore without any need for hearing aids, but for other people I find it necessary to wear hearing aids in order to hear them. I usually cannot hear people speaking softly without assistance from hearing aids. My hearing aids have also been useful with conference phone calls and my laptop speakers. I have noticed that when I’m wearing hearing aids around the house I hear many more incidental noises, such as sounds coming from the downstairs, cars outside, the cats puttering around, etc. In my case I don’t really have a need to hear all these extra noises and rather enjoy the quiet I get without aids.
I take my hearing aids out when listening to music. These are digital hearing aids designed for speech, not music. Music doesn’t sound so great with hearing aids if you ask me. Besides, it is trivial to turn up the volume.
Because I have mild hearing loss I simply do not need hearing aids for all situations and prefer wearing them only for conversations in quiet settings. Most of the time I’m not wearing them and put them on only when I need that extra boost.
Hope that helps,
David