People generally don’t like change. Experienced through that perspective, hearing aids can be a double-edged sword: your life will go through an enormous change but they also will bring exciting new opportunities. That level of change can be a challenge, specifically if you’re the type of person that enjoys the placid comfort of your regular routine. New hearing aids can present a few specific challenges. But knowing 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 upgrade to a more powerful set, any new hearing aid is going to be a significant enhancement to how you hear. That could be quite a challenge depending on your situation. Utilizing these guidelines might make your transition a bit more comfortable.
Begin Using Your Hearing Aids in Smaller Doses
As a basic rule, the more you use your hearing aids, the healthier your ears will stay. But if you’re breaking in your very first pair, using your hearing aids for 18 hours a day can be somewhat uncomfortable. You could start by trying to use your hearing aids for 8 hours intervals, and then steadily build up your stamina.
Practice Listening to Conversations
When you first begin wearing your hearing aids, your brain will most likely need a little bit of time to get accustomed to the idea that it can hear sounds again. You might have a difficult time hearing speech with clarity or following conversations during this adjustment period. But if you want to reset the hearing-language-and-interpreting portion of your brain, you can try doing exercises such as following along with an audiobook.
Have Your Hearing Aids Fitted
One of the initial things you’ll do – even before you get your final hearing aids – is go through a fitting process. Improving comfort, taking account of the size and shape of your ear canal, and adjusting for your individual loss of hearing are all things that a fitting can help with. You could require more than one adjustment. It’s crucial to take these fittings seriously – and to consult us for follow-up appointments. Your hearing aids will sound better and will sit more comfortably if they fit properly. We can also assist you in making adjustments to different hearing environments.
Troubleshoot
Sometimes when you first get your hearing aid something may not be working properly and it becomes difficult to adapt to it. Possibly you hear too much feedback (which can be uncomfortable). Or perhaps the hearing aid keeps cutting out (which can be frustrating). These types of problems can make it difficult to adapt to your hearing aids, so it’s best to find solutions as soon as possible. Try these guidelines:
- Discuss any ringing or buzzing with your hearing specialist. At times, your cell phone can cause interference with your hearing aid. In other instances, it could be that we need to make some adjustments.
- If you notice a lot of feedback, make sure that your hearing aids are properly seated in your ears (it might be that your fit is just a bit off) and that there are no blockages (earwax for instance).
- Ask your hearing specialist to be certain that the hearing aids are correctly calibrated to your hearing loss.
- Charge your hearing aids every night or exchange the batteries. When the batteries on your hearing aids begin to diminish, they normally don’t work as effectively as they’re intended to.
Adapting to Your New Hearing Aids Has Its Rewards
Just as it could with new glasses, it might take you a bit of time to get used to your new hearing aids. We hope you will have a smoother and faster transition with these tips. But you will be pleased by how natural it will become if you stay with it and find a routine. And once that takes place, you’ll be able to devote your attention to the things you’re actually hearing: like your favorite shows or music or the daily conversations you’ve been missing. Ultimately all these adjustments will be well worth it. And change is good.
