You finally obtained those new hearing aids. You’re so excited to be able to dive into your social life again. Now, you won’t be missing parts of conversations or experiencing awkward transitions. But your hearing aids just don’t sound quite right.
The reason for this is that it will normally take a bit of time before you adjust to your new hearing aids. This can be a frustrating transition. You were so excited about enjoying your hearing again and it feels like it’s hard to be patient.
The good news is, there are a few tips that can help accelerate the transition process. With some practice, you can quickly get yourself to a place where you’re paying less attention to hearing aids, and paying more attention to what you’re hearing.
Start slowly with these tips
Your brain will take a little time to get accustomed to hearing certain sounds again regardless of how sophisticated your hearing aids are. Here are some ways you can deliberately give yourself time to adjust and take it slowly:
- Only use your hearing aids for short amounts of time to begin with: When you’re just starting, you can practice by wearing your hearing aids for just a few hours at a time. They may feel a little uncomfortable at first (this is normal), so it’s good to start a little bit at a time. As your hearing aids become more comfortable, you can wear them for longer periods of time.
- Wear your hearing aids only around the house at first: When you’re at home, you have a lot more control over what you’re hearing, and you’ll likely experience substantially less noise pollution. This means you can concentrate on one voice at a time.
- At first, try to focus on one-on-one conversations: You could be setting yourself up for disappointment if you wear your hearing aids in a crowded setting on the first day. When the brain needs to focus on all those voices, it can get overwhelmed at first. By starting out with one-on-one conversations you will make the transition smoother and also get a bit of additional practice.
Get additional practice with these tips
Similar to any other skill (and hearing is a skill, among other things), there are a few activities that can help you practice with your hearing aids. Some of these are even fun!
- Watch TV with the closed-captions enabled: It’s easy: put in your hearing aids, flip on the television, and watch your favorite program. As you read the words you’ll also be hearing the characters speak, and your brain will start remembering what all these words sound like. This sort of practice will help you adjust to hearing speech again.
- Read along with the printed book while you listen to the audiobook.: This similar exercise can also be quite enjoyable. Reading and listening to an audiobook together will help your brain make associations between sounds and words.
- 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 fridge running or the cat meowing in another room or the birds chirping outside.
Strengthen your hearing health with these tips
Keeping your ears as healthy as you can, after all, is one of the primary purposes of hearing aids. And there are some tips you can do to keep your ears happy as you get used to wearing your new hearing aid:
- Keep visiting us: There might be a temptation to believe that once you have the right hearing aids, you won’t need to have anymore hearing exams. This would be the worst idea. We can help tune your hearing aids, keep the fit comfortable, and continue to check in on your hearing. It’s essential to continue with these follow up visits.
- Be certain to note and report any pain: Your hearing aids shouldn’t be painful. So if you’re noticing any pain or something’s not fitting right, it’s important to report it as soon as you can.
Go slow and maximize your time as you get accustomed to your hearing aids
Working your way up to wearing your hearing aids full time is the goal here. Everybody’s unique but the slow and steady approach usually works best. You’ll want to get personalized guidance 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.
