When you first get hearing aids it can be jarring. By knowing what to expect during the adjustment period, you can learn to stay calm, avoid frustration and get the most from your device.
Make Sure Your Hearing Aid Fits Right
A big reason that some people don’t wear their hearing aids is because they feel uncomfortable. This is why it’s essential to speak up if something doesn’t feel right during your initial fittings with the audiologist. If they know what is and is not working, they can make adjustments until things feel better.
Understand How Your Hearing Aid Works
Even experienced hearing aid users can range from having an excellent understanding of their device to a poor one. If you take the time to learn how to adjust your settings or how to spot a problem early, you will experience more of the benefits hearing aids have to offer.
Read through your manual and learn how to use the various features, as well as how to troubleshoot any issues that may come up.
Be Patient with Your Device
If you’ve struggled with hearing loss for some time, it’s understandable that you’d want to experience perfect hearing the moment you put your hearing aids in for the first time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that.
In reality it takes some time to adjust to this new way of hearing. Sounds you were missing may surprise you at first, while busy restaurants may seem excessively loud. Your brain and ears need time to adjust to this new way of hearing.
Wear Hearing Aids Consistently
Be patient and wear your device consistently throughout the day. Try to only take them out when you are sleeping or in situations where they might get wet, like taking a shower. The more consistent you are in wearing your device, the shorter your adjustment period will likely be.
Set Realistic Hearing Expectations
Hearing aids can amplify sounds to help you hear better. However, they don’t have the ability to restore your hearing completely back to normal.
Set realistic expectations to avoid disappointment and know that you may still need to take additional steps to make communication easier. That might mean asking people to talk slowly or look at you while they’re speaking.
Talk to your audiologist about what you can expect from your device and what other tips they can give you to make it easier to communicate with others in your daily life.
