As a basic rule, people don’t like change. Taking this into consideration, there can be a double-edged sword with hearing aids: your life will go through a huge change but they also will bring exciting new possibilities. That degree of change can be tricky, especially if you’re the type of person that enjoys the quiet convenience of your everyday routine. New hearing aids can introduce a few particular difficulties. But learning how to adjust to these devices can help ensure your new hearing aids will be a change you will enjoy.
Tips to Help You Adapt More Quickly to Your Hearing Aids
Whether it’s your first pair of hearing aids (congrats!) or an improvement to a more powerful set, any new hearing aid will be a significant enhancement to how you hear. Depending on your personal circumstances, that could be quite an adjustment. But your transition might be a bit easier if you follow these guidelines.
When You First Get Your Hearing Aids Only Wear Them Intermittently
As a general rule, the more you use your hearing aids, the healthier your ears will be. But it can be a little uncomfortable when you’re breaking them in if you wear them for 18 hours a day. You might begin by trying to use your hearing aids for 8 hours at a time, and then gradually build up your endurance.
Listen to Conversations For Practice
When you first start using your hearing aids, your brain will most likely need a little bit of time to get used to the concept that it’s able to hear sounds again. You may have a hard time making out speech clearly or following conversations during this adjustment time. But practicing with listening or reading drills (like reading along to an audiobook) can help the language-hearing-and-interpreting part of your brain wake back up.
Get a Fitting For Your Hearing Aids
One of the initial things you’ll do – even before you get your final hearing aids – is go through a fitting process. The fitting procedure helps adjust the device for your individual loss of hearing, differences in the shape of your ear canal, and help enhance comfort. You may require several adjustments. It’s imperative to take these fittings seriously – and to see us for follow-up appointments. Your device will sound more natural and will sit more comfortably if they fit properly. We can also assist you in making adjustments to different hearing conditions.
Troubleshoot
Sometimes when you first buy your hearing aid something is not working properly and it becomes hard to adjust to it. Maybe you hear too much feedback (which can be uncomfortable). It can also be infuriating when the hearing aid keeps falling out. It can be overwhelming to adjust to hearing aids because of these types of issues, so it’s a good idea to find solutions as soon as possible. Try these tips:
- Charge your hearing aids every night or replace the batteries. When the batteries on your hearing aids begin to decrease, they normally don’t perform as effectively as they’re intended to.
- If you notice a lot of feedback, ensure that your hearing aids are correctly sitting in your ears (it might be that your fit is just a bit off) and that there aren’t any blockages (such as excess earwax).
- talk about any ringing or buzzing with your hearing expert. Occasionally, your cell phone will cause interference with your hearing aid. In other situations, it could be that we need to make some adjustments.
- Ask your hearing professional to be sure that the hearing aids are properly calibrated to your loss of hearing.
Adapting to Your New Hearing Aids Has Its Advantages
It may take a little time to adjust to your new hearing aids just as it would with new glasses. We hope, with the help of these tips, that the adjustment period will go a bit more smoothly (and quickly). But if you persevere – if you get yourself into a routine with your hearing aids and really invest in adapting to them – you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how it all becomes second-nature. But before too long you will be able to put your attention on what your listening to: like the day-to-day conversation you’ve been missing or your favorite music. These sounds will remind you that all those adjustments are worth it ultimately. And sometimes change is not a bad thing.