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People normally don’t like change. Taking this into account, there can be a double edged sword regarding hearing aids: your life will undergo an enormous change but they also will allow exciting new opportunities. That degree of change can be tricky, specifically if you’re somebody that enjoys the placid convenience of your day-to-day routine. There are very particular challenges with new hearing aids. But making this change positive is primarily about understanding how to adjust to these devices.

Guidelines to Help You Adjust More Quickly to Your Hearing Aids

Whether it’s your first pair of hearing aids (congrats!) or an upgrade to a more robust pair, any new hearing aid is going to represent a significant improvement in how you hear. That could be quite a challenge depending on your situation. But your transition may be a little bit easier if you follow these tips.

Start Using Your Hearing Aids in Smaller Doses

As a general 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 devices for 18 hours a day can be a little uncomfortable. You might try to build up your stamina by starting with 8 hours and building up from there.

Listen to Conversations For Practice

When your brain is first able to hear sound again it will likely need a transition period. During this transition period, it may be tough to follow conversations or make out speech clearly. But if you want to reset the hearing-language-and-interpreting part of your brain, you can try practicing exercises such as reading along with an audiobook.

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. Increasing comfort, taking account of the shape and size of your ear canal, and adjusting for your individual hearing loss are all things that a fitting helps with. You could require several adjustments. It’s crucial to take these fittings seriously – and to consult us for follow-up appointments. When your hearing aids fit well, your hearing aids will sit more comfortably and sound better. We can also assist you in making adjustments to various hearing environments.

Troubleshoot

Sometimes when you first purchase your hearing aid something is not working right and it becomes hard to adjust to it. If there is too much feedback that can be uncomfortable. Or the hearing aid keeps falling out (which can be frustrating). It can be overwhelming to adapt to hearing aids because of these kinds of issues, so it’s best to find solutions as early as you can. Try these tips:

• talk about any buzzing or ringing with your hearing specialist. Occasionally, your cell phone can cause interference with your hearing aid. In other cases, it may be that we have to make some adjustments.
• Charge your hearing aids every evening or exchange the batteries. When the batteries on your hearing aids begin to diminish, they often don’t work as effectively as they’re meant to.
• Ask your hearing professional to be sure that the hearing aids are correctly calibrated to your loss of hearing.
• If you hear a lot of feedback, ensure that your hearing aids are properly seated in your ears (it could be that your fit is just a little off) and that there are no obstructions (earwax for instance).

Adjusting to Your New Hearing Aids Has Its Benefits

Just as it could with a new pair of glasses, it might take you a small amount of time to get used to your new hearing aids. Ideally, with the help of these tips, that adjustment period will proceed somewhat more smoothly (and quickly). But if you stick with it – if you put yourself into a routine with your hearing aids and really invest in adjusting to them – you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how it all becomes second-nature. And once that occurs, you’ll be able to devote your attention to the things you’re actually hearing: like the daily discussion you’ve been missing out on or your favorite music. Ultimately all these adjustments will be well worth it. And sometimes change is not a bad thing.