When considering the best solution to their hearing challenges, some wonder what side effects they might experience. Compared to the benefits hearing aids provide, the few temporary side effects while you’re adjusting to them are minimal.
Can hearing aids make you dizzy?
Although rare, it is possible to experience dizziness while you are getting used to your hearing aids. However, the condition is usually temporary.
Keep reading to find out about the possible causes for dizziness from hearing aids, how to manage it, and when to get help in order to fully address your concerns.
The Connection Between Your Hearing, Dizziness and Balance
Before addressing dizziness from hearing aids, let’s take a moment to discuss how your inner ear is connected to your hearing, dizziness, and balance.
Your inner ears are the primary center of your body’s vestibular system, which helps you maintain your balance. They contain semicircular canals with hair cells that detect your body’s position or orientation.
The signals sent from these hair cells are transmitted to your brain, which directs other parts of your body to adjust your positioning. When you experience sensorineural hearing loss, it is typically related to the loss and damage of these same hair cells.
Consequently, dizziness and balance issues often coincide with hearing loss.
What Might Cause Dizziness With Hearing Aids?
Everyone experiences an adjustment period when they first start using hearing aids. The conditions that show up and the length of time required to adjust vary from one person to the next.
Rest assured, the adjustment period is relatively short, so if you should begin to experience dizziness while you are getting used to your hearing aids, it probably won’t last long.
Dizziness can relate to your brain adapting to new sounds, or sounds it hasn’t heard in a while, as well as the intensity of certain sounds. Once your brain adapts to the sound intensity, your condition is apt to return to normal.
A poor fit or physical discomfort from the device can also cause dizziness. Keep in mind that your ears are not used to having the extra weight on them or the continuous contact with the opening of your ear canal.
Fitting issues that cause dizziness might also relate to overly loud or improperly calibrated settings, which can cause irritation to the inner ear. Make sure you tell your hearing care provider about your discomfort so they can help make the proper adjustments.
Preexisting conditions like Meniere’s disease, which typically includes dizziness as a symptom, can be intensified by the increased sound volume produced by your hearing aids as well.
Finally, among the most common causes of dizziness associated with hearing aids is earwax buildup. When the ear canal becomes blocked, it can have a negative effect on vestibular function as well as hearing. If this is the case, we can assist with professional earwax removal to ensure your ears are clear and your hearing aids are functioning at their best.
4 Tips for Managing Dizziness From Hearing Aids
While your dizziness from wearing your hearing aids will probably be a temporary condition, you might need some help dealing with it until it passes. Here are four quick tips to help:



When to Seek Help
Though dizziness can be related to getting used to your new hearing aids, prolonged, recurrent, or sudden dizziness may not be associated with your hearing aids and is a serious matter that can cause a lot of ongoing discomfort and threaten your safety.
Whether you have worn hearing aids for a while or are still adjusting to new hearing aids, if you are experiencing frequent dizziness, you should seek the advice of your audiologist.
Our team at All About Hearing wants you to be comfortable and confident with your hearing aids. We will do everything we can to ensure that you get the proper fit and adjustments as well as guide you through the process of adjusting to your hearing aids.
Contact us using this link for questions about hearing aids and dizziness or to set up an appointment to address your condition. You can also give us a call at (432) 689-2220 as early as possible so you can get the relief you need.