If you are the proud owner of a new set of hearing aids, congratulations! Your decision to get hearing assistance is a wise choice, and you will begin to reap a wide range of benefits for your relationships, health, and wellness as soon as they are in place and functional. However, adjusting to new hearing aids is not as simple as putting on a pair of eyeglasses. Whereas you might experience an immediate focus on the world with glasses, hearing aids bring out sounds and frequencies that might be entirely unfamiliar to you.
Surprising, jarring, or even annoying sounds can come into your range of hearing where before there had only been a haze. This clarity and precision of hearing can bring enormous benefits to your conversational ability and enjoyment of the richness of the sounding world, but it might take some time to acclimate to this new context. Here are a few essential tips to consider when you first receive your new aids.
Take Advantage of Fitting Instructions
When you get your new aids, you won’t be sent home without a guided fitting and instruction in how to insert and remove your aids. If possible, bring a friend or loved one with you to this meeting to help you recall what you learn. Although you will be learning to use your new aids, you will also be presented with enough information that it helps to have another set of ears in the room to remember what you learn. It doesn’t hurt to take some notes on the process, as well. You can always contact our offices again for more assistance with the adjustment process.
Take It Slow
When you bring home your aids, the first place to try them out should be in the security of your home during a quiet time. When you insert your aids, you will likely hear some sounds you had no idea were there, such as the HVAC system of your home, nearby traffic, or even birdsongs out the window. If this experience is overwhelming or jarring to you, feel free to limit your first use to an hour or even less. Some people experience hearing fatigue when they first start to wear hearing aids. If you wear your aids for a limited time each day, you will be able to slowly adjust to the sounds of your home and the voices of your family members.
Wear Your Devices Out and About
After you have adjusted to wearing your hearing aids at home, you can try them out in some public settings. A good first place to wear them is your familiar grocery store. You will hear a new range of sounds, and you might have some brief conversations. Your comfort in the location helps limit the unexpected sounds that might pop up. When you check out, you can try having a conversation with a community member, but don’t hesitate to explain that you are adjusting to a new pair of hearing aids.
Wear Your Devices On the Road
Only after you have adjusted to wearing your hearing aids in some other public settings should you try wearing them while driving. The sounds of emergency vehicles or other cars on the road can be surprising, and you don’t want to cause yourself any abrupt and surprising experiences on the road. In your first drive or two, make sure you do not have any children or pets in the car that might make surprising noises, and keep the radio turned off. Once you have become accustomed to wearing hearing aids on the road, as well as hearing an ambulance or police vehicle passing by, you will be ready to incorporate other sonic elements into the car.
Follow Up with Our Team
If you find that you need further assistance or training with the use of your hearing aids, or if you simply cannot adjust after some time goes by, don’t hesitate to contact our offices for a follow-up visit.
In the rare situation that you are unable to adjust to your aids, we can work with you to find a better solution to treat your hearing loss. In almost all cases, a careful adjustment period is all it takes to reap the benefits of hearing assistance.
If you are ready to benefit from the life changing benefits of hearing loss treatment, contact us today!
