Tanya is visiting her hearing specialist, being measured for her very first pair of hearing aids. And she’s feeling a little anxious. Not, you know, a ton of anxiety. But she’s never had to use hearing aids before, and she’s a little worried about how comfortable she’ll feel with a high tech gadget sitting in her ears, particularly because she doesn’t really like earpods or earplugs.
These worries are not only felt by Tanya. Countless first-time hearing aid users have fears about the comfort and general fit of their hearing aids. Tanya wants to wear her hearing aid. She’s anticipating hearing her son’s jokes and listening to her television at a level That won’t cause problems with the neighbors. But how comfortable are those hearing aids going to be?
Adjusting to Hearing Aids For The First Time
So, is wearing hearing aids uncomfortable? Simply put: some individuals find them to be a bit uncomfortable at first. Early comfort levels will vary because, like many things in life, there’s an adjustment period. But you will feel more comfortable after a while as you get acquainted with your hearing aids.
Sometimes it’s just good to know that these adjustments are coming. Knowing what you should expect will help you get accustomed to your hearing aids in a sustainable, healthy, and comfortable way.
Adjusting to your hearing aid has two phases:
- Getting used to a hearing aid in your ear: Your hearing specialist may suggest that you begin slowly wearing your hearing aids so you can have a little time to get used to how the device feels in your ear. Having said that, there shouldn’t be any pain involved. You should get in touch with your hearing specialist if your hearing aid is causing pain.
- Becoming accustomed to a higher quality of sound: Sometimes, it might be the sound quality that you have to adjust to. If you’re like the majority of people, you waited to get hearing aids, and you’re not used to hearing a full array of sounds anymore. It might sound a bit loud at first or there may be frequencies of sound your not accustomed to hearing. Initially, this can be rather distracting. One of our readers complained, for example, that he could hear his hair scraping against his coat when he moved his head. This isn’t abnormal. After a few weeks, your brain will filter out the noises you don’t want to tune in to.
In order to enhance your general comfort and hasten the adjustment period, speak with your hearing specialist if you’re experiencing trouble with the physical positioning or sound quality of your hearing aids.
Can I Make my Hearing Aids More Comfortable?
Over the years, fortunately, there are a few techniques that have worked fairly well.
- Practice: The world may sound just a little bit different once you get your hearing aids. And it may take a while for your ears to adapt, specifically when it comes to speech. There are many practices (reading along with an audiobook or watching TV with the closed captions on) that can help you get better at this a little more quickly.
- Get the right fit: Fitting your ears comfortably is what hearing aids are designed to do. You’ll obviously want to talk about fit with your hearing specialist right away but you’ll also want to see your hearing specialist for follow-up fittings to be sure everything is working properly and the fit is excellent. And for optimal effectiveness and comfort, you might want to consider a custom fit hearing aid.
- Start slow: You don’t need to wear your hearing aids twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week at first. You can build up to that. From one to four hours every day is a great way to start. That said, you’ll want to build up to using your hearing aids all day, but you don’t have to start there.
You’re Hearing Aids Can be More Comfortable
Your hearing aids may 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 happen. Wearing them on a daily basis is crucial to make that transition happen.
Before long all you will have to think about is what you hear, not how you hear it.