Should I choose the newer technology or the higher number of channels?

Hi Terost, I don’t want to take this too far off topic but wanted to say I am completely with you. I thought I was having issues with development of dementia. I failed to recognize my “I don’t remember that” was actually “I am so HOH I didn’t hear it in the first place.” What a critical distinction! I applaud the OP for being aggressive about gathering information and pursuing comprehension in whatever approach works best for them.

@Neville said:

Does it? I’d have to go back and read it again, but doesn’t it show that people with hearing loss who wear hearing aids are less likely to have dementia than people with hearing loss who don’t wear hearing aids? That’s not quite the same thing. I can think of some reasons why individuals with dementia might be less likely to get hearing aids.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope hearing aids DO treat dementia. But we have to be careful here–this is a big claim.

I’m 100% with @Neville here along this line of thought. To be honest, ever since I retired about 5 years ago, I don’t really have a need to wear hearing aids all day long like before, so I wear hearing aids less often when I’m at home, because I can understand what my wife says 90% of the time at home anyway. I don’t feel the slightest hint of dementia onset, because I’m not really inside a cocoon of silence all day, I still have full awareness around me, just not as much with hearing aids on. But sometimes I don’t care to hear the environmental sounds at home anyway, like the fridge, the AC, the fans, and other machines, etc.

Because I’m an experienced hearing aids user, not wearing the aids often enough doesn’t throw me off when I put them back on again after a period of not wearing them. It’s like riding a bike, instant recognition of something very familiar.

@Volusiano said:

I don’t feel the slightest hint of dementia onset, because I’m not really inside a cocoon of silence all day, I still have full awareness around me, just not as much with hearing aids on.

Dementia is not the only concern. Loss of word understanding is a biggie. I can say it happened to me then it takes a lot of effort to get it back. Granted I stopped wearing aids for about a year. My speech understanding fell badly.

Yep, word recognition is for sure going to suffer without hearing aids. But in my individual case it’s not a big issue with understanding my wife at home, so I don’t really need hearing aids to understand my wife well anyway.

But we’re arguing about not wearing hearing aids being a main cause of dementia, which @Neville and I don’t necessarily fully agree with, that’s all. There’s some truth to that, but I just don’t think it should be used strongly to scare people. I’m not advocating for NOT wearing hearing aids. Wearing hearing aids is of course always better than not wearing it. But if you don’t feel like wearing hearing aids at home because you don’t need to and don’t want to all the times, then don’t be too scared that by not doing so, you’ll get dementia for sure. Nothing is that black and white. It totally depends on the individual situations.

I do see the point you’re making.

It’s just that I can’t count the times my patients say “I hear fine at home and don’t need them” while their spouse gives me sad eyes in the background. So… I’m sure it really is fine, but also just check in with her if you haven’t lately. Spouses play a big role in hearing loss, for better or for worse. In a lot of cases I wish spouses were better with communication strategies, but others are regularly playing phone interference and acting as interpreters and it does place a new communication burden on them.

Haha, yeah, you indeed bring a fresh perspective as an HCP about seeing clients in denial that they need hearing aids even though the spouse thinks otherwise and you can see it in their face if they accompany their husband to the session. I have a genetic history of hearing loss (my last 2 siblings were born deaf, my maternal grandmother, my mom, my older siblings and myself all need to wear hearing aids as we got older), so I don’t have any denial issue about needing to wear hearing aids at all.

On the other hand, I also can see the point if somebody simply say they don’t need hearing aids at home. I’m sure a lot of it is indeed denial, but there can also be cases where people do know that they need hearing aids, but there’s just not many things at home they want to hear, except for maybe their spouse. But who knows, some may even develop “selective” hearing and only hear what they want to hear from their spouse.

My brother does this. Doesn’t wear them unless he has a meeting. And complains that his wife just speaks too softly- “it’s just her voice doesn’t project”. Exactly. It’s called hearing loss!!