You’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. You got your new hearing aids. You’re so excited to be able to jump into your social life again. No more bad transitions or confused conversations. But your hearing aids just don’t sound quite right.
That’s because it’ll probably take you some time to adjust to a new pair of hearing aids. Sometimes, this transition can be annoying. You were so excited about enjoying your hearing again and it feels like it’s taking so long.
But there are a few tips you can practice to reduce this transition period. With some 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.
Tips that help you start Slowly
Your brain will take a little time to get accustomed to hearing certain sounds again no matter how sophisticated your hearing aids are. Use these tips to start slowly and purposely give your ears time to adjust.:
- Focus on one-on-one conversations first: You could be setting yourself up for disappointment if you wear your hearing aids in a crowded setting right out of the box. When the brain has to pay attention to all those voices, it can get overloaded at first. Staying with one-on-one conversations can help make that transition easier (and give you a bit of extra practice, too).
- Only use your hearing aids for short amounts of time at first: When you’re just starting, you can practice by wearing your hearing aids for just a few hours at a time. Your hearing aids will probably feel a little weird in your ears for a while so beginning slowly is fine. You can begin to use your hearing aids for longer periods as you become accustomed to them.
- Start by using your hearing aids at home only: You’ll be less likely to experience 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.
Tips that help you get added 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. You could even have a little fun!
- Simply practice hearing: That’s right: Go somewhere a little quiet and take in the sounds around you. You can practice by concentrating on trying to hear the refrigerator running or the cat meowing in the other room or the birds singing outside.
- Use closed-captions when you watch TV: It’s easy: put your hearing aids in, flip on the television, and watch your favorite program. 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 sort of practice will help you adjust to hearing speech again.
- Listen to an audiobook while you read the print version: This is a really similar exercise (and allows you to have some fun reading while you’re at it). Your brain will learn to make connections between words and sounds by employing this read along strategy.
Strengthen your hearing health with these tips
Keeping your ears as healthy as possible, after all, is one of the primary purposes of hearing aids. But, as you take some time to get accustomed to your new hearing aids, there are a few things you can do that your ears will thank you for.:
- Keep visiting us: There might be a temptation to believe 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 monitor your hearing, make sure the fit is comfortable, and make any required adjustments. These follow up visits are really important.
- Be certain to note and report any pain: Because it shouldn’t be painful to wear hearing aids. So if you’re noticing any pain or something’s not fitting right, it’s important to let us know as soon as possible.
Be patient, and build up to full-time hearing aids
Working your way up to using your hearing aids full time is the objective here. A slow and steadfast strategy works quite often, but everyone’s unique. You’ll want to get individualized guidance from us on the best way for you to get used to your new hearing aid.
Implementing 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 enrich your life.