Dear nitebird,
The short and very subjective answer to your question is "yes".
However, there is some dispute among audiologists, doctors and
hearing-impaired on the reasons for the loss of residual hearing (the
'unaided hearing') of hearing aids users, and the scope of the
problem.
The are no conclusive evidence, and there are two "loud" groups found
online claiming either that
(a) Hearing aids *always" cause loss of residual hearing, are wrong to
be used, and should be replaced by specific "deaf" communication (ASL,
etc.); or:
(b) No harm in hearing aids what-so-ever (some manufacturers of
hearing aids)
The truth lies in between. Research on the subject is conducted since
1975, and it has been found that in some cases the hearing aids might
affect the residual hearing, for example among children or among those
whose aids were not correctly adjusted [1].
Many users of hearing aids reported that they feel loss of their
unaided hearing due to usage of hearing aid [3]. This can occur
because the brain "got used" to the louder, clearer,
easier-to-interpret sounds, and now refuses to "work hard" again. It
may sound like a simplistic explanation, but this is the common one,
as a post to a discussion group reveals: ""If I go for
several years without hearing aids, my mind becomes more adept at
using what it gets, so if I put on the hearing aids, everything sounds
much louder. I keep the volume low while re-adapting, then turn them
up later, and soon it's no different than it was before. This process
has actually happened to me twice in my life, so I am quite
experienced with it." [3].
Another possibility is that the aid was misadjusted by the technician,
and should have been much lower as adjusted. The over-powerfulness of
the aid damaged the residual hearing.
Some also claim that the type of hearing aid matters. A good hearing
aid, well adjusted, should not damage the residual hearing. For
example, manufacturers of the "Vibrant Soundbridge" claim that, "For
most patients (96%), implantation of the Vibrant Soundbridge did not
significantly affect residual hearing (unaided hearing ability);
however, a small percentage (4%) of patients experienced a decrease in
residual hearing." [2]
[1] Binaural hearing aids: are they dangerous for children? J F Jerger
/ N Lewis, Archives of Otolaryngology , Aug 1975
[2] http://www.symphonix.com/index.cfm?SCREEN=patients&page=sbalternative
[3] A discussion in http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=alt.support.hearing-loss
(alt.support.hearing-loss):
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=8bjcp4%24edf%241%40slb7.atl.mindspring.net&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522hearing%2Baids%2522%2B%2522unaided%2Bhearing%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D8bjcp4%2524edf%25241%2540slb7.atl.mindspring.net%26rnum%3D1
[4] http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&group=bit.listserv.deaf-l
(bit.listserv.deaf-l) -
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&threadm=20001103022712.27244.00000638%40ng-cs1.aol.com&rnum=3&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522hearing%2Baids%2522%2B%2522residual%2Bhearing%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D20001103022712.27244.00000638%2540ng-cs1.aol.com%26rnum%3D3
Further sources:
[5] The effect of hearing aid use on the user's residual hearing. A
follow-up study. A Markides / D T Aryee, Scandinavian Audiology , Feb
1978
These were my research terms:
"hearing aids" "unaided hearing"
"hearing aids" "residual hearing"
"hearing aids" impact "residual hearing"
(I searched Google, Google-Groups and Scirus.com, which is a search
engine for academic material).
I hope that answered your question. If you have any further questions,
don't hesitate to ask. |
