You’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. You received your new hearing aids. You’re finally going to be able to get back into the groove of your social life again. Now, you won’t be missing elements of conversations or experiencing uncomfortable 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. Sometimes, this transition can be frustrating. You were so looking forward to enjoying your hearing again and it feels like it’s taking so long.
Luckily, there are a few tips that can help accelerate the transition process. With some practice, you can quickly get yourself to a space where you’re thinking less about your hearing aids, and paying more attention to what you’re hearing.
Tips that help you start Slowly
Your brain will take a little while to get accustomed to hearing certain sounds again regardless of how sophisticated your hearing aids are. Use these tips to start slowly and deliberately give your ears time to adjust.:
- Begin by wearing your hearing aids at home only: When you’re at home, you have much more control over what you’re hearing, and you’ll probably experience substantially less noise pollution. This will help you focus on individual voices.
- Use your hearing aids for a short duration: A few hours at a time is the most you should wear your hearing aids when you first get started. Your hearing aids will probably feel a little strange in your ears for a while so beginning gradually is okay. As your hearing aids get more comfortable, you can wear them for longer durations.
- 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 using the devices, you could be disappointed, not because the devices aren’t working. When the brain needs to pay attention to all those voices, it can get overloaded at first. By beginning with one-on-one conversations you will make the transition easier and also get a bit of extra practice.
Get extra practice with these tips
As with 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. You might even have a little fun!
- Use closed-captions when you watch TV: It’s easy: put your hearing aids in, flip on the television, and watch your favorite show. As you read the words you’ll also be hearing the actors speak, and your brain will start remembering what all these words sound like. This can give you some practice hearing and adjusting to speech.
- Read along with the printed book while you listen to the audiobook.: This comparable exercise can also be very enjoyable. Your brain will learn to make connections between words and sounds by using this read along strategy.
- Do some listening practice: That’s right: Sit someplace a little quiet and experience the sounds around you. Begin by focusing on the sound of wind blowing through the trees or birds singing or nearby running water.
Tips to keep your hearing health strong
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 used to wearing your new hearing aid:
- If you’re experiencing any pain, make sure you document it and report it to us.: Because it shouldn’t hurt to wear hearing aids. So it’s important to let us know about any problems with fit or any pain right away.
- Keep visiting us: There might be a temptation to presume that once you’ve got the right hearing aids, you won’t need to see us anymore. This would be a bad idea. We can continue to track your hearing, make certain the fit is comfortable, and make any needed adjustments. These follow up visits are very important.
Take your time, and work up to full-time hearing aids
Working your way up to wearing your hearing aids full time is the goal here. Everyone’s different but the slow and steady approach often works best. You’ll want to get individualized advice from us on the best way for you to get used to your new hearing aid.
These tips will help you have a more enjoyable and enriched life with your new hearing aids.