For most people both ears don’t normally have the same exact degree of hearing loss. One ear is commonly a little bit worse than the other, triggering many to ask the question: Do I actually need two hearing aids, or can I just deal with the ear with more substantial loss of hearing?

In many situations, two hearing aids are will be better than just one. But one hearing aid may be more appropriate in some less common circumstances.

You Have Two Ears For a Reason

Whether you’re aware of it or not, your ears efficiently work as a pair. Which means that there are some benefits to using two hearing aids.

The Ability to Correctly Localize: Your brain is always doing work, not only to interpret sounds but also to place them in order to figure out where they’re coming from. In order to correctly triangulate where sound is coming from, your brain requires input from both ears. It is a lot harder to determine where sounds are coming from when you’re only able to hear well out of one ear (which could be essential if you happen to live near a busy street, for instance).
Improved Ear Health: In the same way as unused muscles can atrophy, so too can an unused sense. If your ears go for long periods without input signals, your hearing can start to go downhill. Get the organs of your ears the input they need to preserve your hearing by using two hearing aids. If you have tinnitus, using two hearing aids can reduce it and also improve your ability to identify sounds.
Modern Hearing Aids Work Together: Modern hearing aid technology is made to work as a pair in the same way as your ears are. The two hearing aids communicate with each other using state-of-the-art features and artificial intelligence to, much like your brain, determine which sounds to focus on and amplify.
Concentrating When People Are Talking: If you’re using a hearing aid, the whole point is to assist you in hearing. Other people conversing is something you will certainly need to hear. Wearing two hearing aids allows your brain to better tune out background noises. Because your mind has more available data your brain can figure out what is closer and consequently more likely to be something you would want to focus on.

Are There Situations Where One Hearing Aid Is Sensible?

In the majority of circumstances, wearing a pair of hearing aids is a more effective choice. But that brings up the question: why would anybody wear a hearing aid in just one ear?

Well, normally there are two reasons:

You still Hear Perfectly out of one ear: If just one of your ears requires a hearing aid, then you might be best served by using a hearing aid in just one ear but it’s definitely something you should talk to your hearing professional about (having one better ear is not the same thing as having one perfect ear).
Financial concerns: Some people think that they can spend less money if they can wear only one hearing aid. Purchasing one hearing aid is better then getting none if you can’t really afford a pair. It’s important to recognize, however, it has been proven that your total health costs will increase if you have untreated hearing loss. Even neglecting hearing loss for two years has been shown to raise your healthcare costs by 26 percent, and ignoring any hearing loss in one ear will increase your risks for things like falling. So in order to learn if using one hearing aid is the right choice for you, talk to a hearing care specialist. We can also help you figure ways to make hearing aids more budget friendly.

One Hearing Aid is Not as Beneficial as Two

In the vast majority of situations, however, two hearing aids are going to be healthier for your ears and your hearing than only one. The benefits of hearing as well as possible out of both of your ears are simply too many to ignore. So, yes, in most cases, two hearing aids are better than one (just as two ears are better than one). Make an appointment with a hearing care pro to have your hearing checked.