Tanya is being fitted for a new pair of hearing aids by her hearing specialist. And she’s experiencing a little anxiety. Her anxiety isn’t actually that bad. 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 ear canal, particularly because she’s not a big fan of earpods or earplugs.
Tanya’s concerns are not unusual. Fit and general comfort are worries for many new hearing aid users. Tanya wants to use her hearing aid. Now she won’t need to crank the television up so loud that it irritates her family or even her neighbors. But will those hearing aids be comfortable?
How to Adapt When You First Wear Your Hearing Aids
So, are hearing aids uncomfortable? Put simply: some people find them to be a bit uncomfortable when they first use them. As with many things in life, there’s an adjustment time, which means your initial level of comfort will fluctuate. But you will become more comfortable in time as you get accustomed to your hearing aids.
Sometimes it’s just nice to realize that these adjustments are will happen. Knowing what to expect will help your adjustment period be smoother.
Adapting to your hearing aid has two phases:
- Getting used to a hearing aid in your ear: Your hearing specialist may recommend that you start off slowly wearing your hearing aids so you can have a little time to become accustomed to how the device feels in your ear. Having said that, there shouldn’t be any pain involved. If you’re experiencing pain because of your hearing aid, you should definitely speak with your hearing specialist as soon as you can.
In order to enhance your overall comfort and hasten the adjustment period, contact 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, luckily, there are a few techniques that have worked fairly well.
- Start slow: You don’t have to wear your hearing aids twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week when you first get them. You can gradually work your way up to it. From one to four hours every day is a great way to begin. Having said that, you’ll want to build up to using your hearing aids all day, but you don’t have to start there.
- Practice: The world might sound quite a bit different once you get your hearing aids. And it may take some time for your ears to adapt, especially when it comes to speech. In order to get the hang of it more quickly, there are numerous exercises you can do including 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. You’ll absolutely 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 be certain everything is working correctly and the fit is perfect. And for maximum effectiveness and comfort, you may want to think about a custom fit hearing aid.
Making Your Hearing Aids More Comfortable
Your hearing aids may feel a little uncomfortable for the first few days or weeks. But the more quickly you adjust to your new hearing aids, the faster they’ll become a comfortable part of your day to day life. Wearing them every day is essential to make that transition happen.
Before long all you will have to think about is what you hear, not how you hear it.