You’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. You received your 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 a little bit off.
The reason for this is that it will often take a bit of time before you adjust to your new hearing aids. Often, this transition can be frustrating. You were so looking forward to enjoying your hearing again and it feels like it’s taking so long.
Fortunately, there are some tips that can help quicken the transition process. With a little practice, you can quickly get yourself to a place where you’re thinking less about your hearing aids, and tuning in to what you’re hearing.
Start slowly with these tips
No matter how technologically sophisticated they might be, it’s going to take your brain some time to adjust to hearing certain sounds again. Use these tips to start slowly and purposely give your ears time to adapt.:
- 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 start out. Your hearing aids will probably feel a little weird in your ears for a while so beginning gradually is fine. You can start to use your hearing aids for longer periods as you become accustomed to them.
- Start by wearing your hearing aids at home only: 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 means you can concentrate on one voice at a time.
- First, try to focus on one-on-one conversations: If you use your hearing aids while dining at a crowded restaurant on your first day using the devices, you may be disappointed, not because the hearing aids aren’t working. When the brain has to pay attention to all those voices, it can become overwhelmed at first. Staying with one-on-one conversations can help make that transition smoother (and give you a bit of extra practice, as well).
Tips that help you get extra practice in
Much like 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 enabled: It’s easy: put in your hearing aids, flip on the TV, and watch your favorite show. As you read the words you’ll also be hearing the actors 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.
- Just practice hearing: That’s right: sit in a quiet place and let your ears do the hearing. Begin by tuning in to the sound of wind blowing through the trees or birds chirping or nearby running water.
- Listen to an audiobook while you read the printed book: This is a very similar exercise (and lets you have some fun reading while you’re at it). Reading and listening to an audiobook together will help your brain make connections between sounds and words.
Improve your hearing health with these tips
Keeping your ears as healthy as possible, after all, is one of the principal purposes of hearing aids. But, as you take some time to get used to your new hearing aids, there are some things you can do that your ears will thank you for.:
- Keep visiting us: There might be a temptation to presume that once you’ve got the right hearing aids, you won’t need to have anymore hearing exams. Nothing could be further from the truth. We can continue to monitor your hearing, make sure the fit is comfortable, and make any needed adjustments. These follow up visits are really important.
- Be certain to take note of and report any pain: Because it shouldn’t be painful to wear hearing aids. So it’s important to report any issues with fit or any pain right away.
Go slow and maximize your time as you get accustomed to your hearing aids
Your objective here will be to work your way up to using your hearing aids full time. Everyone’s different but the slow and steady approach usually works best. Understanding the best ways to get comfortable with your new hearing aids is something we can help you with.
Sticking with these tips (and tips like them) can help ensure that you enjoy having your hearing aids and that you keep using them because they continue to improve your life.
