Does hearing through a hearing aid sound “normal”?

Unfortunately, even the most advanced hearing aid technologies cannot accurately replicate the function of the human ear. Although hearing aids are still the best solution for most hearing impairments, hearing aids have a much lower resolution than the human ear. Therefore, hearing with hearing aids does not sound like natural hearing.

Moreover, a significant part of our everyday auditory functions, such as following a conversation in the presence of background noise or detecting the direction of a sound in the environment, takes place in our brain. Since most people with hearing impairments, especially older adults, also present with difficulties in higher hearing function, hearing aids cannot compensate for all hearing difficulties experienced by a person with hearing loss.