Tanya is visiting her hearing specialist, being fitted for her very first set of hearing aids. And it’s the reason for some anxiety. Not, you know, a lot of anxiety. But she’s never used hearing aids before, and she’s somewhat concerned 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 worries are not unusual. Fit and general comfort are doubts for many new hearing aid users. Tanya has every intention of wearing her hearing aids. Now she won’t need to turn the television up so loud that it irritates her family or even the neighbors. But will those hearing aids be comfortable?
How to Adjust When You First Wear Your Hearing Aids
So, is wearing hearing aids uncomfortable? The short answer is: some individuals experience them as a bit uncomfortable at first. As with lots of things in life, there’s an adjustment period, meaning your initial level of comfort will fluctuate. But you will get more comfortable after a while as you get used to your hearing aids.
Knowing that these adjustments will occur can help ease some of the concerns. Knowing what you should expect will help your adjustment period be easier.
There are two phases to your adjustment:
In order to improve your general comfort and quicken the adjustment period, get in touch with your hearing specialist if you are having trouble with the physical placement or sound quality of your hearing aids.
How Can I Enhance The Comfort of My Hearing Aids?
Luckily, there are a few techniques that have proven to be rather effective over the years.
- Get the right fit: Hearing aids are designed to fit your ears comfortably. It may take several visits with your hearing specialist to get everything working and fitting just right. You may also want to consider a custom fit hearing aid for maximum comfort and effectiveness.
- Start slow: You don’t have to wear your hearing aids 24/7 at first. You can gradually work your way up to it. From one to four hours every day is a great way to begin. Eventually, you will be using your hearing aids all day, when you get comfortable with them.
- Practice: Once have your hearing aids, the world isn’t going to sound quite the same. Adapting to sound, especially speech, may take a while. There are many exercises (reading along with an audiobook or watching TV with the closed captions turned on) that can help you get better at this a little more quickly.
You’re Hearing Aids Can be More Comfortable
Your hearing aids might feel a little uncomfortable for the first few days or weeks. Before long you’re hearing aids will be a comfortable part of your daily life and the sooner you make the adjustments, the sooner this will happen. In order to make that transition, it’s critical that you wear them every day.
Pretty soon, you’ll be focusing on is having good conversation with friends.