Hearing Aids Can Improve Your Sense of Balance

Hearing aids do a lot for us. They help us to stay engaged in conversations, keep us aware of our surroundings, help us to avoid the negative health outcomes that can accompany untreated hearing loss, and generally allow us to maintain our healthiest and happiest lifestyles.

A new study has demonstrated that hearing aids may also improve our sense of balance. While many of us may think that balance is maintained entirely by the labyrinth—the fluid-filled structure adjacent to the inner ear—it has been evident for a long time that our vision also helps us to balance. (Try closing your eyes and standing on one foot versus doing it with your eyes open.) This is the first study to suggest that our hearing may also provide assistance with our ability to stay upright.

Study Details

The study was conducted by researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, and published in The Laryngoscope journal. With a sample of 14 hearing aid wearers, aged 65–91, researchers played white noise into the room and measured the participants’ postural balance with standard balance tests.

There were two main tests used to determine the participants’ ability to balance. In the first, they were asked to stand with their feet together on a thick foam pad. In the second, they stood on the floor with their feet heel-to-toe, one in front of the other. Their eyes were covered in both tests.

The tests were repeated both with hearing aids turned on and off. To avoid skewing the study results due to improvements derived from practice, some participants were asked to start with their hearing aids on, while others started with them off. As they repeated the tests, participants would switch to the opposite of their previous sequence.

The duration of a participant’s ability to balance was measured from the moment they assumed the position to the time they had to move their arms or feet to keep from falling down.

Some participants had no difficulty balancing whether their hearing aids were on or off. However, for those who did have difficulty, they were able to balance significantly longer with their hearing aids on.

For the foam pad test, the average balance duration was 17 seconds with hearing aids off, and 26 seconds with them on.

The heel-to-toe test is more challenging. In this test, the average balance duration was 5 seconds with hearing aids off, and 10 seconds with them on.

Analyzing the Results

The effects that hearing aids seem to have on balance is pretty astounding. In the more difficult test, hearing aids appear to double the effective balance duration, while the easier test still shows a strong improvement when hearing aids are turned on. Given that the results are so strong, the study seems promising despite the very small sample size of only 14 participants.

The researchers have noted that they are seeking funding to perform a larger version of the study, which will help to create more conclusive results. In addition to testing hearing aid wearers, future tests ought to include those with untreated hearing loss, those with normal hearing, and also see whether wearing hearing aids during the test improves performance for a person who has hearing loss but does not normally wear hearing aids.

Avoiding Accidents

Another study looked at data from the USA’s National Health Interview Survey from 2007–2015. This study found that those who reported having “a lot of trouble” hearing were twice as likely as those who had no trouble hearing to suffer an accidental injury, especially due to falling down.

These results seem to indicate the same as the Washington University study, though from the reverse direction: untreated hearing loss decreases our sense of balance

If you or a loved one is having hearing issues, don’t hesitate to make an appointment for a hearing test. The sooner hearing loss is treated with hearing aids, the lower the likelihood of injury due to any balance issues your hearing loss may cause.

Hearing aids not only improve our sense of balance, but they make us feel more at home in the world. Those who wear hearing aids get more physical activity, have more active social lives, and report a greater sense of well-being and optimism than those with untreated hearing loss. Don’t wait: get your hearing checked with Silver Audition today!