Adapting to new hearing aids often requires adapting all over again to the sound of on'es own voice. hearing aid users sometimes describe their voices as sounding as if they are in a tunnel, a barrel, or talking through a microphone. The feeling is probably the most noticeable change for new users and the hardest thing to adapt to. Your audiologist cannot make this sensation go away completely, but he or she can help alleviate some of the hollow feeling you may experience.
One of the principle sources of this funny sound is called occlusion. Occlusion is when there is a blocking or closing of the ear canal. Have you ever worn earplugs or put your fingers in your ears to block out sound? When you talk and your ears are plugged, your voice sounds much louder and a bit hollow. When you put hearing aids in your ears you do just that, plug them up. When we talk, the vibration of our vocal cords vibrates the bones in the head briefly, until it disperses out through the ear canals. When we plug up our ears, the sounds are no longer able to escape through the ear canals, but are redirected back to the eardrum, making the low tones louder. This causes us to experience that "echoey" or hollow tone in our voice.
So, if plugging up our ears causes occlusion, how do we get rid of it? Well, we do just the opposite; we unplug them, as much as possible anyway. Most hearing aids have a hole in the ear mold called a vent. This vent helps equalize pressure in the ear canal, lets air circulate and also helps alleviate some of the hollow feeling when we talk. So, as you can imagine, the larger we can make that vent, the more our internal sounds can disperse through the ear canal. Unfortunately, the size of the vent is sometimes limited by both the size of the hearing aid and the size of your ear canal, as well as the loudness of the hearing aid.
Occlusion is not the only factor causing this feeling of a loud, hollow sound. remember that we have hearing aids because we have a hearing loss. We are used to hearing our own voice at a level that reflects that of our hearing loss, but now we have turned that volume up using the hearing aid. So now our voice seems louder to us, even though it sounds the same to everyone else.
To alleviate this problem, your audiologist may try to turn the low-frequency volume down on your hearing aids, but this really only reduces the low-frequencies in everything you hear. Turning down everything we hear contradicts the goal of the audiologist to help you hear the best you possibly can. Needless to say, it is not the best solution. the best solution is to try to get used to your new voice. Try reading out loud to your spouse, kids, grand-kids, or yourself for 15 minutes 2-3 times a day. Reading out loud will force you to listen to your voice constantly. This is how we really sound to the rest of the world. They have gotten used to our voice; we have to try, too.
I know this process sometimes seems long and challenging, but stick with it. Your audiologist will be there for support.
When asked for an explanation of the cognitive decline, Frank Lin, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine otologist and assistant professor, and the study's lead author, offered as possible contributing factors the combination of social isolation and the extra mental effort it takes to understand sounds.
