Adjusting to Your New Hearing Aids

A new hearing aid can bring a great amount of positive change to your life. The change to your hearing will be immediate. However, the change can also be overwhelming, meaning that you might need to adjust to it before wearing the device for long periods at a time, to begin with. However, working with your audiologist, you can put together a plan to ensure that you enjoy life with your hearing aid as quickly as possible.

The adjustment period

Hearing loss often affects us gradually, changing not just how we hear sound, but also how our brain processes it. As a result, wearing a hearing aid will make you more aware of the sounds you’ve been missing. To adjust to this immersed sound, your audiologist will likely recommend you wear your hearing aid for short periods of time at first. They will work with you to create a schedule that increases the length of time you wear it for each day. By the end of this adjustment period, you should be able to wear your hearing aids all day without any problems.

Training to your hearing aid

To make sure that you get used to how your hearing aid works, it’s recommended that you don’t go to any concerts or other particularly loud events too soon. Instead, start with quieter environments. As you get used to them, you can expose yourself to louder environments. Practice talking with your friends and family, so you get used to conversations again, as you might find that your brain isn’t used to hearing speech quite as clearly.

Finding the right program

Hearing aids are programmable so they can be adjusted to different sound environments. In the beginning, your audiologist will program it for you to help make it as effective for your lifestyle. Your audiologist will be able to make adjustments if your hearing isn’t as effective as you expected. Additionally, you can learn to program it yourself over time. Many hearing aids have the settings on the shell of the device, while others can be connected to smartphone apps via Bluetooth, so you can adjust them on the fly.

Is it a good fit?

There are many different ear shapes out there and one hearing aid might not be as well suited to yours as another. For devices that are custom molded, like in-the-ear hearing aids or behind-the-ear devices with earmolds, it should be designed to fit specifically to your ear alone. You should not be experiencing any physical pain or discomfort while wearing your hearing aid. If you do, take it to your audiologist. They can ensure that you are wearing the hearing aid properly and that it’s a good fit for your ear. If it isn’t, they might have to take another mold of the ear or find another device.

If you experience any problems or issues with your hearing aids beyond what has been mentioned above, make an appointment with your audiologist. If it needs any repairs, they can make the majority of them on the spot or provide a replacement while the manufacturer takes care of it.