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The silence I encounter when removing my hearing aids at night

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Yes, your brain adjusts to the level of input it gets during the day and when you take your aids out and that drops it sounds worse to you then the same sound did in the morning.

Thanks
I’m so glad I read your answer and the OP’s question.

Dave

In reply to @jimdellavolpe

@jimdellavolpe: Jim, I’m not meaning to be flippant here, but I think the silence is normal and to be expected. After all, “The Creeping Silence” is what caused you to get them, in the first place, isn’t it? I wouldn’t worry unless there’s been a sudden change in your sensations.

I can’t tag all the members that have basically said the same thing, as well as those recommending that all of us should have our hearing rechecked at least on an annual basis. (I have mine rechecked every 6 months to ensure that my settings are as close to optimal as they can be. I think good audiologists make sure that you’re evaluated on a regular basis.)

Yes my world is much quieter without my aids on. I also, when overloaded with sound will mute my aids so I can relax and rest my brain. This s all normal and a part of our hard of hearing world.

Sure, I understand, and the answer is “yes”, provided that what you’re hearing isn’t changing. I just wanted to point out that you’re wearing the aids because you have a hearing deficit, and at no time of the day is that deficit more apparent to you than when you take out your aids.

I can’t spaeak for anyone else, but the same thing happens to me, too. I guess I’ve been experiencing it for so long, I don’t give it a second thought. But please know that I wasn’t dismissing your question: I was just pointing out the reason for your bad hearing when you take out your aids. (I actually, truly, look forward to putting my fully-charged aids in, as soon as I wake up!)

I hope we’re good.

Is it worth sleeping with hearing aids on? I only enjoy the quiet but I like the fact that one could hear while sleeping too.

At least for my the quiet I hear is the lack of amplification needed for understanding speech, I can still hear hear the fan, the clock, and , but it all is much lower in volume. My phone will wake me, or the alarm system etc. My family knows to only text me after bedtime.

@gkumar said:

Is it worth sleeping with hearing aids on? I only enjoy the quiet but I like the fact that one could hear while sleeping too.

@gkumar: I think it’s not healthy for the ear to be shut off from ventilation 24/7. It needs to breathe.

I have constant problems with earwax, I have tried wearing hearing aids while sleeping, but seems to exacerbate the wax problem. I have now stopped wearing them at night.

That sounds uncomfortable. Yeah I have ear wax issues as well. So far a shower and using a bulb to rinse my ears each day helps a fair bit. Don’t know how crazy I want to make myself :grin:

Yes, and I actually find it a relief at times. I still have an on one side and am adjusting to newly received on the other. Sometimes the auditory stimulation can be overwhelming after the quiet we have grown accustomed to. But it’s wonderful to regain hearing, and that silence at the end of the day is silent proof of how much our hearing has improved!

In reply to @kevels55

Kev - your mention of living in an isolated location - can’t get much more isolated than the Shetland Islands - reminds me of how lucky I am to be living in a large enough centre to have several hearing clinics to chose from. Now, I am doubly conscious of how lucky I am that I live near enough to a big city that I was able to access a recent cochlear implant. I used to live in a remote northern community in Ontario, Canada - and I have reflected on how geography can seriously impact the availability of health services. Like you, Canada has universal healthcare, but travelling to access services can be quite challenging. In the case of hearing aids/implants there is a need for ongoing visits to an audiologist. You obviously weren’t able to make frequent visits to your hearing centre to fine tune your hearing aids. I hope you have now moved into the age of digital hearing aids. Amazingly, the newest models can be tuned up remotely - that would be wonderful for people living in isolated locales.

Edited

In reply to @susanmarylynn

Thank you, for your comments @susanmarylynn… 'Tis a long time since I actually lived in Shetland, but I never lost my love for those Islands, especially the inhabitants, a wonderfully hardy breed, and a more friendly folk, I have yet to encounter! I left Shetland some 27 or so years ago, but I go back and visit as often as I can. My Shetland days were my first encounter with analogue hearing aids, they amplified absolutely everything, Shetland NHS Health Board were absolutely wonderful back then, they would fly me to Aberdeen “free gratis”, as many times as I needed to visit the Audiologists down there… Nowadays, I have Phonak Naida Paradise 90 with the 675 batteries, before that I had the none rechargeable Marvels with 105db ’s, I dabble a bit in self-programming, and buy my aids privately… I live slightly out in the Boonies, in the Scottish Highlands, I prefer it that way, big towns and cities have their merits, but they are not for me. You don’t have to sleep with hearing aid in, there are loads of environmental equipment out there for folks or indeed big D, a pad that goes under your pillow, and vibrates, flashes, and it would waken the dead, it is extremely loud, hooks up to your alarm clock, phone, doorbell, smoke alarm, baby alarms, whatever… There are many types of environmental aids, 14 or so years ago, I installed this type of equipment for a living, with Deaf Services, I should imagine a lot of these types of equipment will have advanced greatly in that time? In all truth I am needing an implant like yourself, but due to NHS financial constraints, I am unlikely to get one… I hope all continues to go well with your implant. Cheers Kev :wink:

In reply to @susanmarylynn

Our health care has changed. I live in Toronto; when I came here about 20 years ago I couldn’t find a family doctor. Guvmint wants to pattern our health care after US care. Rant’s over. I guess we have some health care…I can get an if i really need it. Just takes about 3 months…unless you’re famous.

DaveL

Edited

I do NOT enjoy taking mine out. I feel like someone stuffed cotton in my ears. All the detail from sounds just disappears. It’s like listening to Monk & Coltrane on a CD and then switching to AM radio.

I agree with what bluejay says but I’m sure a lot of people would think that I was being rude or inconsiderate. One thing for sure is the silence I encounter at night makes it easy to fall asleep. I then depend on my wife to wake me in an emergency. Of course first I have to figure out what she’s saying

Edited
@hass5744 said:

I agree with what bluejay says but I’m sure a lot of people would think that I was being rude or inconsiderate.

I’m afraid you’re correct, @hass5744. Because sounds, not speech, are paramount in my world it is a blessed relief when I can hand over the listening chores to MrsSpudGunner at bedtime and unwind.

Mind you, I still have enough hearing left to detect the big goings on, but I can relax more fully without my aids.

[… but I still must remain attuned to the sounds emanating from HerSelf®️]

I’m not sure I would hear a nuclear bomb going off by in my backyard. But then again I probably wouldn’t need to

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