Tips for Enjoying Music with Hearing Loss

Listening to music can be relaxing, exciting and can even transport you back to a happy memory from the past. Difficulty with hearing and enjoying music is a common problem that our patients speak up about when their hearing health declines. You may be surprised, but hearing music well is often something we continue to work on with patients even after they receive hearing aids. Music is complex and just like speech sounds the ears and brain need time to re-learn once familiar sounds.

According to the Hearing Health Foundation, “For a person with hearing loss, music sounds much softer, especially in the range where people sing and where most instruments are heard. Not only does music sound muffled and dull, but it loses a great deal of its excitement.” Patients with hearing loss can also have difficulty with increased volume, because loudness perception can be more intense for those with hearing loss than for those with normal hearing. Luckily, today’s modern hearing aids have exceptional sound quality and more options to personalize settings, which makes hearing and enjoying music again possible.

If you have hearing loss and wear hearing aids, here are some tips to get back on track:

• Start with the music you know – determine the nuances of your listening experience with sounds that you are most familiar with
• Take notes – when you listen to music write down what sounds different and what you think is missing or difficult that way you have your experience ready to discuss at your next audiologist appointment
• Keep trying – don’t hang up your love for music. By working with your audiologist over time, you will be able to find the hearing aid settings or accessories that will help you better enjoy music

If you are no longer hearing or enjoying music as you once did, be sure to contact our audiologists for help.