What are common myths about hearing aids?

Common Myths about Hearing Loss and Hearing Aids (courtesy of the Better Hearing Institute)

 

MYTH: Your hearing loss cannot be helped.

FACT: People with hearing loss in one ear, with a high frequency hearing loss, and with nerve damage have been told, often by a doctor, that they cannot be helped. Most people with hearing loss can be helped, the vast majority of them with hearing aids.

 

MYTH: Hearing loss affects only old people and is a sign of aging.

FACT: Fewer than 40 percent of people with hearing loss are 64 years of age or older. There are close to eight million people between the ages of 18 and 44 with hearing loss, and more than a million of these are school-age children.

 

MYTH: If I have a hearing loss, my doctor would have told me. FACT: Very few physicians electronically measure your hearing; therefore, it is virtually impossible for most doctors to recognize your hearing loss.

 

MYTH: Hearing aids do not work.

FACT: Treatment is now possible for hearing losses which may have been difficult to treat just a few years ago. Hearing aid technology, testing techniques, and diagnosis have been dramatically improved. Modern hearing aids can help 95 percent of persons with hearing loss, and the overwhelming majority of those who have chosen hearing aids are satisfied with their decision.