EWWW…I HATE MY OWN VOICE
Your Voice on a Tape Recorder (or through a Hearing Aid)
Did you ever hear your voice on a recording or through a hearing aid? Bet you didn’t like it. You most likely thought it didn’t sound anything like you. In fact, in a study of subjects listening to recordings of their own voice, along with recordings of 19 unfamiliar voice recordings, only 38% of subjects recognized their own voice.
Whether you liked or hated the sound of your voice on a recording that is the “real” sound of your voice. That is the voice others hear when you speak. It is not however, the voice you hear. The sound waves, created when we talk, create vibrations in our vocal cords, the vibrations of our vocal cords, soft tissue, and bones in our head. This makes us sound richer and deeper to ourselves.
WHAT’S NORMAL? How Your Voice Sounds With a Hearing Aid
Nearly everyone that puts on a hearing aid for the first time hates the sound of their voice. After putting on the hearing aids, every audiologist hears, “Ewww, I hate my own voice.” “I sound hollow and like an echo.” “I sound like I’m in a tunnel.” “I sound so raspy.”
The response of every audiologist is, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” That is true. The majority of hearing aid users do quickly get used to, and accept, the sound of their own voice.
“Normal” is what you’re used to. You’re used to hearing yourself with a hearing deficit at many of the pitches of speech. Your hearing changed gradually over 15 to 20 years. You didn’t notice that, little by little, your voice changed subtly along with it. Suddenly, in one minute, you’re hearing all of the pitches that took 20 years to lose.
It’s shocking. You don’t like it. No one likes it. But really, you do get used to the sound of your voice through hearing aids. Your “new” voice becomes your “new” normal. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen overnight
THE GOOD NEWS. Hearing Aids Deliver
Faster Adaptation and more immediate relief are on their way. By understanding, and then manipulating, the intricacies and dynamics of sound, hearing aid manufacturers have gone to great lengths to reduce the shock of hearing a new you.
Technology really is amazing (when your computer works).