You’ve been waiting for 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 unclear conversations. But your hearing aids just don’t seem quite right.
That’s because it’ll probably take you a while to adjust to a new pair of hearing aids. This can be an annoying transition. You were so looking forward to enjoying your hearing again and it feels like it’s taking so long.
But there are several tips you can practice to minimize this transition period. Pretty soon, with a bit of practice, you will be focusing on what you’re hearing rather than your hearing aids.
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 proceed slowly and deliberately give your ears time to adapt.:
- Only wear your hearing aids for short amounts of time at first: When you’re just beginning, you can practice by wearing your hearing aids for only a few hours at a time. Your hearing aids will most likely 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 durations as you become accustomed to them.
- Focus on one-on-one conversations first: You may be setting yourself up for frustration 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 become overloaded at first. Sticking to one-on-one conversations can help make that transition easier (and give you a little extra practice, too).
- Use your hearing aids only around the house at first: When you’re at home, you have a lot more control over what you’re hearing, and you’ll likely experience significantly less noise pollution. This means you can concentrate on one voice at a time.
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 fun!
- Use closed-captions when you watch TV: It’s easy: put your hearing aids in, turn on the television, and watch your favorite program. Your brain will begin remembering what certain words sound like when you read along with the voices you’re hearing. This sort of practice will help you adjust to understanding speech again.
- Read along with the printed version while you listen to the audiobook.: This is a very similar exercise (and allows you to have some fun reading while you’re at it). Reading and listening to an audiobook together will help your brain make links between sounds and words.
- Do some listening exercise: That’s right: sit in a quiet place and let your ears do the hearing. Start off by tuning in to the sound of wind blowing through the trees or birds singing or nearby running water.
Improve your hearing health with these tips
Keeping your ears as healthy as possible, after all, is one of the main 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 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 track your hearing, make certain the fit is comfortable, and make any needed adjustments. These follow up visits are really important.
- Be sure to note and report any pain: Because it shouldn’t be painful to wear hearing aids. So it’s important to let us know about any problems with fit or any pain right away.
Take your time, and build up to full-time hearing aids
Working your way up to using your hearing aids full time is the objective here. Everyone’s unique 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.
These tips will help you live a more enjoyable and enriched life with your new hearing aids.