Congratulations on your first set of hearing aids! These incredible devices are going to improve your hearing, social relationships and your emotional and physical well-being in ways you may not even anticipate. That said, adjusting to new hearing aids is a process that can be fatiguing and even frustrating while you acclimate to the increased stimuli going to your brain. One major adjustment to hearing aids comes in the form of the occlusion effect.
What Is the Occlusion Effect?
The occlusion effect is a phenomenon in which sounds that originate from within your body (such as your voice, chewing, breathing or swallowing) sound echoey inside your head. People have described it as booming, hollow, tinny or “like I’m talking into a barrel.” It’s often accompanied by a feeling of fullness in the ear, as if your ears are plugged up.
The occlusion effect occurs when an obstruction in the ear canal blocks sound waves from escaping through the ear canal, causing them to bounce back into the ear and hit the eardrum. Common obstructions that cause the occlusion effect are ear buds, earplugs and—of course—hearing aids.
How Hearing Aids Are Designed to Mitigate the Occlusion Effect
Hearing aid designers and manufacturers are well aware of the occlusion effect and implement elements in hearing aid designs that are meant to minimize the occlusion effect. All hearing aids have a ventilation system, which allows air and sound waves from inside the ear to pass through vents and exit the ear.
There are also open-fit hearing aids, which feature a tube that leaves the ear canal at least partially open, allowing sound waves to pass through. Open domes are domes with gaps in them that don’t form a complete seal in the ear canal. Both of these will greatly decrease the occlusion effect.
How You Can Minimize the Occlusion Effect
If you’re still experiencing the occlusion effect, there are a few quick fixes you can try. First, clean your hearing aids, paying particular attention to the vents. As mentioned above, the vents allow sound waves to pass through, but they can be clogged very easily by earwax buildup. Remove any wax buildup from the vents with your wax pick or wax loop. While you’re cleaning them, check the vents for any damage.
After that, check your hearing aid settings. Turn down the amplification level. The occlusion effect is especially noticeable with lower-frequency sounds, so reducing the amplification levels specifically for low frequencies may help mitigate the occlusion effect.
Finally, try taking a short break from your hearing aids and then putting them back in later. Adjusting to your hearing aids is a huge workout for your ears and auditory processing center, which have become rusty with disuse. As you adjust to clearer hearing, your ears will adapt to how things sound again. Your brain will learn how to combat the occlusion effect on its own.
If you have any questions or want to discuss other hearing aid accessories or designs that can help with the occlusion effect, call us today.