Tanya is sitting with her hearing specialist, being measured for her very first pair of hearing aids. And it’s causing her some level anxiety. Not, you know, a ton of anxiety. But she’s never used hearing aids before, and she’s a little worried that she will be uncomfortable with a high tech gizmo sitting in her ear canal, especially since she’s never been a huge fan of earbuds or earplugs.
Tanya’s concerns are not unusual. Fit and general comfort are worries for many new hearing aid users. Tanya wants to use her hearing aid. She’s looking forward to hearing her son’s jokes and listening to her television at a volume That won’t cause trouble with the neighbors. But how comfortable are those hearing aids going to be?
Adapting to Hearing Aids For The First Time
So, is wearing hearing aids uncomfortable? The short response is: some people experience them as a little uncomfortable at first. As with lots of things in life, there’s an adjustment period, which means your early level of comfort will fluctuate. But you will become more comfortable in time as you get acquainted with your hearing aids.
At times it’s just nice to recognize that these adjustments are coming. Knowing what you should expect will help your adjustment period be smoother.
Adjusting to your hearing aid has two phases:
If either the sound quality or the physical placement of the hearing aids is annoying you, it’s essential to speak to your hearing specialist about adjustments to improve your all-around comfort and advance the adjustment period.
How Can I Improve The Comfort of My Hearing Aids?
Fortunately, there are a few methods that have proven to be fairly effective over the years.
- Get the right fit: Fitting your ears properly is what hearing aids are designed to do. You’ll absolutely want to discuss your fit with your hearing specialist right off the bat, but you’ll also want to see your hearing specialist for follow-up fittings to be certain everything is working properly and the fit is perfect. You might also want to think about a custom fit hearing aid for maximum comfort and effectiveness.
- Practice: The world might sound quite a bit different once you get your hearing aids. Adjusting to sound, particularly speech, might take some time. There are many practices (reading along with an audiobook or watching your favorite movie with the closed captions on) that can help you get better at this a little more quickly.
- Start slow: If you’re breaking in your first set of hearing aids, you shouldn’t feel as though you need to wear them all day, every day at first. You can start gradually and build up from there. From one to four hours per day is a good way to start. Ultimately, you will be using your hearing aids all day, when you get comfortable with them.
You’re Hearing Aids Can be More Comfortable
For the first few days or weeks, there may be a little discomfort with your hearing aids. But the faster you adjust to your new hearing aids, the faster they’ll become a comfortable part of your day to day life. Wearing them every day is critical to make that transition happen.
Pretty soon, you’ll be focusing on is having good conversation with friends.