Tips for Adjusting to Your New Hearing Aid

You’ve been looking forward to this day for quite a while. You got your new hearing aids. You’re so excited to be able to jump into your social life again. Now, you won’t be missing parts of conversations or going through awkward transitions. But your hearing aids just don’t sound quite right.

That’s because it’ll probably take you some time to adjust to a new pair of hearing aids. Often, this transition can be frustrating. You were so excited about enjoying your hearing again and it feels like it’s hard to be patient.

Luckily, there are a few tips that can help accelerate the transition process. Pretty soon, with a bit of practice, you will be paying attention to what you’re hearing instead of your hearing aids.

Tips that help you start Slowly

Your brain will take a little while to get accustomed to hearing certain sounds again no matter how sophisticated your hearing aids are. Use these tips to proceed slowly and deliberately give your ears time to adapt.:

• Begin by using your hearing aids at home only: You’ll be less likely to encounter noise pollution at home and you will be able to have a greater degree of control over the sounds you’re hearing. This means you can concentrate on one voice at a time.
• Wear your hearing aids for a short period of time: A few hours at a time is the most you should wear your hearing aids when you first start out. They might feel a little uncomfortable at first (this is normal), so it’s okay to start a little bit at a time. As your hearing aids get more comfortable, you can use them for longer periods of time.
• First, try to focus on one-on-one conversations: You may be setting yourself up for disappointment if you wear your hearing aids in a crowded environment on the first day. When the brain has to focus on all those voices, it can become overloaded at first. Staying with one-on-one conversations can help make that transition smoother (and give you a little extra practice, as well).

Tips that help you get added practice in

There are some things you can do, as with any skill, that can help you practice hearing. You may even have a little fun!

• Simply practice hearing: That’s right: sit in a quiet room and let your ears do the hearing. You can practice by concentrating on trying to hear the refrigerator running or the cat meowing in another room or the birds chirping outside.
• Listen to an audiobook while you read the printed book: This comparable exercise can also be really enjoyable. Your brain will learn to make connections between sounds and words by using this read along technique.
• Watch TV with the closed-captions enabled: It’s easy: put your hearing aids in, flip on the television, and watch your favorite show. Your brain will begin remembering what certain words sound like when you read along with the voices you’re hearing. This sort of practice will help you adjust to hearing speech again.

Tips to keep your hearing health strong

Of course, one of the purposes of hearing aids is to keep your hearing as healthy as possible. But, as you take some time to get used to your new hearing aids, there are a few things you can do that your ears will thank you for.:

• Be sure to take note of and report any pain: Your hearing aids shouldn’t hurt. So it’s important to let us know about any issues with fit or any pain right away.
• Keep visiting us: You might not think you need to get hearing evaluations anymore after you get your hearing aids. This would be the worst idea. We can help tune your hearing aids, keep the fit comfortable, and continue to keep an eye on your hearing. These follow up visits are very important.

Go slow and maximize your time as you get accustomed to your hearing aids

Working your way up to using your hearing aids full time is the goal here. A slow and steady strategy works quite often, but everyone’s different. You’ll want to get personalized advice from us on the best way for you to get used to your new hearing aid.

These tips will help you live a more enjoyable and enriched life with your new hearing aids.