Tanya is sitting with her hearing specialist, being measured for her very first set of hearing aids. And she’s experiencing a little anxiety. Not, you know, a ton of anxiety. But she’s never had to use hearing aids before, and she’s somewhat stressed that she will feel uncomfortable with a high tech gadget sitting in her ears, particularly since she’s never been a big fan of earbuds or earplugs.
Tanya’s doubts are not unique. Fit and general comfort are worries for many first time hearing aid users. Tanya wants to use her hearing aid. Now she won’t need to turn the television up so loud that it disturbs her family or even her neighbors. But will those hearing aids be comfortable?
How to Adapt When You First Use Your Hearing Aids
So, are hearing aids uncomfortable? Put simply: some individuals experience them as a bit uncomfortable when they first wear them. As with many things in life, there’s an adjustment period, meaning your initial level of comfort will vary. But after a while, you’ll get used to the feeling of your hearing aids and become more comfortable.
Knowing that these adjustments will occur can help ease some of the concerns. Knowing what you should expect will help you get accustomed to your hearing aids in a healthy, sustainable, and comfortable way.
Adjusting to your hearing aid has two parts:
In order to enhance your overall comfort and hasten the adjustment period, talk to your hearing specialist if you are having trouble with the physical positioning or sound quality of your hearing aids.
Can I Make my Hearing Aids More Comfortable?
Over the years, luckily, there are a few techniques that have worked pretty well.
- Get the right fit: Fitting your ears comfortably is what hearing aids are made to do. You’ll definitely want to talk about fit with your hearing specialist right off the bat, but you’ll also want to consult your hearing specialist for follow-up fittings to make sure everything is working correctly and the fit is excellent. And for optimal comfort and effectiveness, you may want to think about a custom fit hearing aid.
- Start slow: If you’re breaking in your first pair of hearing aids, you shouldn’t feel as if you have to wear them all day, every day right off the bat. You can build up to that. From one to four hours per day is a good way to start. With that being said, you’ll want to build up to using your hearing aids all day, but you don’t have to start there.
- Practice: Once have your hearing aids, the world won’t sound quite the same. Adjusting to sound, specifically speech, might take a while. In order to get the hang of it more quickly, there are a number of practices you can do including watching a movie with caption or reading along with an audiobook.
You’re Hearing Aids Can be More Comfortable
For the first few days or weeks, there might be some discomfort with your hearing aids. But the faster you adjust to your new hearing aids, the faster they’ll become a comfortable part of your day to day life. Wearing them on a daily basis is essential to make that transition happen.
Before you know it, you’ll be thinking about is having good conversation with friends.
