Here at Lemme Audiology, we see patients everyday with hearing loss, some of which have hearing aids, and some do not. Often, when people are first diagnosed with hearing loss, especially one they didn’t suspect, the question of “why get hearing aids now instead of later when the problem is ‘worse’?” comes up. That’s a very good question, and one that deserves an answer.
When performing your hearing evaluation, we complete several tests to get a full picture of you and your ability to hear both sounds and understand speech. One of these tests is a “word recognition score.” In this test, a list of words is presented at a comfortably loud listening level, and you need to repeat those words back to us. Depending on the score in this test, it can tell us how well you are understanding speech.
One of my favorite analogies for explaining your brain’s ability to understand speech is that it is like a muscle: You need to keep it in shape. It is much easier to maintain your brain’s ability to understand speech than it is to get that ability back once it is lost. If you have a hearing loss, but a good word recognition score, this is the best time to start wearing hearing aids – the hearing aids will support your ability to understand speech. The hearing aids will continue to give your brain the exercise that it needs to stay in shape to keep understanding speech.
A common problem we see is a decrease in word recognition when a hearing loss remains untreated. This means that even if we make things loud enough for you, and even if you do eventually get hearing aids, you may have to work harder to understand speech until you are able to regain that ability. For this reason, it is incredibly important to make sure that an identified hearing loss is treated as soon as possible.
So, let’s find out what is going on with your hearing health. Give us a call at (814) 941-7770 to schedule your hearing evaluation in our Altoona, Ebensburg, or Martinsburg office. Together, we can give your brain the exercise it needs!
Ali Jackson, Au.D.
