When you receive your brand new hearing aid or refurbished hearing aid for the first time, or when you upgrade to a new one. Chances are, for the first few days, you will not be able to experience a natural hearing experience. This is extremely common for new hearing aid wearers. Which is why many hearing aid centers go to great lengths to help ensure a smooth transitioning period.

However, the brain does need to adjust to the new sounds, even with a finely tuned fitting of your new hearing aid. As it is not just your adjusting to the newly added improvement, your brain is working hard to trust the sound environment it is being subjected to. This has nothing to do with your hearing aid being analog or digital. As it is about the sensation that is triggered in the brain, which takes time in getting used to.

So here are a few tips and tricks to help you through this process:

1)Expect

Once you are mentally prepared it will become easier for you to deal with it. So mentally prepare yourself for the “new” sounds you will be experiencing the first few days. Because when you approach the process thinking that everything will be done in a day, then you will be disappointed. These expectations are understandable, but you need to realize that it will take a few weeks to meet them.

2)Gradually

Try to take and maintain a gradual approach to this. Think of this process as getting into a pool in winter, where you dip your toes to check if the temperature is right. Because if you simply jump in, it will be too much to take. Hearing aids are the same way, and you need to get used to them gradually. In the beginning, they might feel as though you are hearing too much sound, or that the sounds you hear are just too loud, but they are not. If a hearing aid is programmed correctly they will NOT make sounds you hear louder than they truly are.

3)Gently

Take the gentle approach, so your ears and hearing mechanism can take on things as they come. We advise you bring your hearing aid home with you, and put them on in a quiet room. Sit there for a few minutes and try to hear the small noises, that you were unable to hear before. Starting with faint sounds will help you ease into the process gently. Identifying sounds that you would normally dismiss as noise is vital to the process of adapting to hearing aids.

4)Adjustments

Adjustments from your hearing aid professional are part of the process, as they cannot possibly be with you for every part of your life to understand your hearing frustrations you must take good notes for them and go to your follow up visits. No brand new or refurbished hearing aids are set perfectly the first day you get them, no verification testing or scholastic degree can make this happen, only you and your hearing aid professional over time can make your hearing aid work properly for you. Be patient, be honest, take notes, and jump all in you will have a much better experience if you do.

Resources:

Hearing Aids