You finally got those new hearing aids. You’re finally going to be able to get back into the swing of your social life again. Now, you won’t be missing elements of conversations or going through awkward transitions. But there’s an issue: everything sounds just a little off.
That’s because it’ll likely take you a while to adjust to a new pair of hearing aids. This can be a frustrating transition. You were so looking forward to enjoying your hearing again and it feels like it’s hard to be patient.
The good news is, there are some tips that can help quicken the transition process. Before long, with a bit of practice, you will be focusing on what you’re hearing rather than your hearing aids.
Tips that help you start Slowly
Regardless of how technologically sophisticated they might be, it’s going to take your brain some time to adjust to hearing certain sounds again. Here are some ways you can intentionally give yourself time to adjust and start things off slowly:
- Use your hearing aids only around the house initially: 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 will help you focus on individual voices.
- 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 get started. They might feel a little uncomfortable at first (this is normal), so it’s okay to start slowly. You can start to wear your hearing aids for longer periods as you become accustomed to them.
- Initially, try to focus on one-on-one conversations: You might be setting yourself up for disappointment if you use your hearing aids in a crowded environment right out of the box. When the brain has to pay attention to all those voices, it can become overloaded at first. Sticking to one-on-one conversations can help make that transition easier (and give you a little extra practice, too).
Get additional practice with these tips
Similar to any other skill (and hearing is a skill, among other things), there are certain activities that can help you practice with your hearing aids. Some of these are even enjoyable!
- Watch TV with the closed-captions on: It’s easy: Turn on the TV, put your hearing aids in, and enjoy. As you read the words you’ll also be hearing the characters speak, and your brain will begin to remember what all these words sound like. This type of practice will help you adjust to hearing speech again.
- Do some listening exercise: That’s right: sit in a quiet place 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 singing 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 associations between words and sounds by employing this read along technique.
Tips to keep your hearing health up
Obviously, one of the purposes of hearing aids is to keep your hearing as healthy as you can. And there are some tips you can do to keep your ears happy as you get accustomed to wearing your new hearing aid:
- Be sure to note and let us know about any pain: Because it shouldn’t be painful to wear hearing aids. So it’s important to let us know about any issues with fit or any pain right away.
- Keep visiting us: You may not think you need to get hearing exams anymore after you get your hearing aids. This would be a bad idea. We can continue to track your hearing, make sure the fit is comfortable, and make any required adjustments. It’s important to continue with these follow up appointments.
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 objective here. Everybody’s unique but the slow and steady strategy usually works best. You’ll want to get personalized advice from us on the best way for you to get used to your new hearing aid.
Following these tips (and tips like them) can help make sure that you enjoy having your hearing aids and that you keep wearing them because they continue to enhance your life.