By PENELOPE WOODS, MAudSt, MAudA (CCP), BMus, is a Masters Qualified Independent Audiologist and Hearing Health Advocate serving the Redlands Community.
ON the first day with hearing aids, some people discover that their house has acquired a soundtrack.
The refrigerator hums. The newspaper crackles. Cutlery sounds unusually bright. Birds that seemed to have disappeared are suddenly very busy indeed.
It can make people wonder whether something is wrong. Often, though, something more interesting is happening.
The brain is comparing today’s sound with the version of the world it has gradually learnt to regard as normal.
More than a century ago, psychologist George Stratton explored a similar idea with vision.
He wore special lenses that turned his visual world upside down. At first, simple movements became confusing.
But after days of living with the altered view, he became increasingly able to move and function within it.
His brain had not magically turned the image back around. Rather, his perception had begun adapting to unfamiliar information.
Hearing can work in a comparable way. Age-related hearing loss usually develops slowly.
High frequency sounds may fade little by little. Speech becomes less crisp. The indicator in the car, birds outside, running water or a grandchild’s softer consonants may gradually become less noticeable.
Because the change is slow, there is rarely a clear moment when the world suddenly sounds different.
Your reference point simply shifts with it.
Then hearing aids can restore access to sounds that have been reduced for years.
What is technically closer to ordinary sound may initially feel anything but ordinary.
Audiologists use the term auditory acclimatisation for changes that can occur with continued hearing aid use.
Research suggests this happens for some people and some aspects of listening, although the effect is not identical for everyone and is generally modest.
The useful idea is simpler: unfamiliar does not automatically mean wrong. At A Better Ear, our independent hearing rehabilitation clinic serving the Redlands, this is something our audiologists discuss with new wearers.
It helps people separate sounds that are simply newly noticeable from sounds that are genuinely uncomfortable and need adjustment.
That distinction is important. Nobody should be told to simply tolerate hearing aids that are painfully loud or persistently harsh.
If you are adjusting to hearing aids, pay attention to what changes over the first few weeks.
Which sounds stop demanding your attention? Is conversation at the cafe or bowls club becoming easier?
Those observations are useful information for your audiologist. Sometimes the hearing aids need changing.
Sometimes your brain just needs a little time to decide that the refrigerator was there all along.
A Better Ear is a premier sponsor of the Redlands Seniors Expo at the Redland Performing Arts Centre on 9 October.
Meet the team and hear Penelope present Hearing, Dementia and Healthy Ageing on the day.
