Tanya is being measured for a new pair of hearing aids by her hearing specialist. And it’s the reason for some anxiety. Not, you know, a lot of anxiety. But hearing aids are new to her, and she’s a little stressed that she will be uncomfortable with a high tech gadget inside of her ear canal, particularly since she’s never been a huge fan of earbuds or earplugs.
Tanya’s worries are not unique. Many first-time hearing aid users have worries about the comfort and overall fit of their hearing aids. Tanya has every intention of wearing her hearing aids. She’s looking forward to hearing her son’s jokes and listening to her television at a volume That won’t cause problems with the neighbors. But how comfortable will those hearing aids be?
Adjusting to Hearing Aids For The First Time
So, are 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 vary. But as time passes, you’ll become accustomed to the feeling of your hearing aids and become more comfortable.
At times it’s just good to recognize that these adjustments are coming. Knowing what you should expect will help your adjustment period be smoother.
There are two phases to your adjustment:
If either the sound quality or the physical placement of the hearing aids is disturbing you, it’s important to speak with your hearing specialist about adjustments to increase your all-around comfort and quicken the adjustment period.
How Can I Improve The Comfort of My Hearing Aids?
Over the years, fortunately, there are a few strategies that have worked pretty well.
- Practice: The world may sound just a little bit different after you get your hearing aids. Adjusting to sound, especially speech, might take a while. In order to get the hang of it a little more quickly, there are lots of practices you can do like watching a movie with caption or reading along with an audiobook.
- Get the right fit: Fitting your ears properly is what hearing aids are designed to do. It may take a number of visits with your hearing specialist to get everything working and just the right fit. You might also want to consider a custom fit hearing aid for maximum comfort and effectiveness.
- Start slow: If you’re breaking in your first pair of hearing aids, you shouldn’t feel as though you have to wear them all day, every day right off the bat. You can gradually work your way up to it. Begin by wearing your hearing aid for a couple to a few hours a day. Eventually, you will be wearing your hearing aids all day, when you become comfortable with them.
Making Your Hearing Aids More Comfortable
Your hearing aids might feel a little awkward for the first few days or weeks. Pretty soon you’re hearing aids will become a comfortable part of your everyday life and the sooner you make the adjustments, the sooner this will occur. Wearing them on a daily basis is essential to make that transition happen.
Pretty soon, you’ll be focusing on is having good conversation with friends.