Tips for Adjusting to Your New Hearing Aid

You finally got those new hearing aids. You’re so excited to be able to dive into your social life again. No more missed transitions or confused conversations. But there’s an issue: everything sounds just a little off.

The reason for this is that it will often take a bit of time before you adjust to your new hearing aids. Sometimes, this transition can be annoying. You were so looking forward to enjoying your hearing again and it feels like it’s hard to be patient.

But there are some tips you can practice to reduce this transition period. Before long, with a little 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 time to get used to hearing certain sounds again regardless of how sophisticated your hearing aids are. Use these tips to start slowly and purposely give your ears time to adapt.:

• Only use your hearing aids for short periods of time at first: When you’re just beginning, you can practice by using your hearing aids for just a few hours at a time. They might feel a little uncomfortable at first (this is normal), so it’s okay to start slowly. As your hearing aids get more comfortable, you can use them for longer periods of time.
• Wear your hearing aids only around the house initially: You’ll be less likely to experience noise pollution at home and you will be able to have a greater amount of control over the sounds you’re hearing. This means you can focus on one voice at a time.
• Initially, try to focus on one-on-one conversations: If you wear your hearing aids while dining at a crowded restaurant on your first day you get them, you may be discouraged, not because the hearing aids are doing anything wrong. It’s just that it’s hard for your ear and brain to cope with focusing on all those different voices. Staying with one-on-one conversations can help make that transition easier (and give you a bit of extra practice, as well).

Tips that help you get extra practice in

As with any other skill (and hearing is a skill, among other things), there are some activities that can help you practice with your hearing aids. Some of these are even enjoyable!

• Just practice hearing: That’s right: Sit someplace a little quiet and take in the sounds around you. Start off by tuning in to the sound of wind blowing through the trees or birds singing or nearby running water.
• Watch TV with the closed-captions enabled: It’s easy: Turn the TV on, put your hearing aids in, and enjoy. Your brain will start to remember what certain words sound like as you read along with the voices you’re hearing. This type of practice will help you get used to understanding speech again.
• Listen to an audiobook while you read the print version: This is a very similar exercise (and lets you get in some fun reading while you’re at it). Reading and listening to an audiobook concurrently will help your brain make links between sounds and words.

Strengthen your hearing health with these tips

Obviously, one of the purposes of hearing aids is to keep your ears as healthy as you can. And there are a few tips you can do to keep your ears happy as you get accustomed to wearing your new hearing aid:

• Be certain to note and let us know about any pain: Because it shouldn’t be painful to wear hearing aids. So if you’re experiencing any pain or something’s not fitting right, it’s important to report it as soon as possible.
• Keep visiting us: You might not think you need to get hearing exams anymore after you get your hearing aids. Nothing could be further from the truth. We can help tune your hearing aids, keep the fit comfortable, and continue to check in on your hearing. These follow up visits are very important.

Be patient, and build up to full-time hearing aids

Working your way up to using your hearing aids full time is the objective here. A slow and progressive strategy is often effective, but everybody’s different. Understanding the best ways to get comfortable with your new hearing aids is something we can help you with.

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