Tanya is visiting her hearing specialist, being fitted for her very first set of hearing aids. And she’s feeling a little anxious. Her anxiety isn’t actually that bad. But hearing aids are new to her, and she’s a little stressed that she will be uncomfortable with a high tech gadget inside of her ears, especially because she’s not a big fan of earpods or earplugs.
Tanya’s concerns are not unusual. Fit and overall comfort are worries for many new hearing aid users. Tanya wants to wear her hearing aid. Now she won’t need to turn the television up so loud that it bothers her family or even her neighbors. But will those hearing aids be comfortable?
Adjusting to Hearing Aids For The First Time
So, are hearing aids uncomfortable? The short response is: some people experience them as a little uncomfortable at first. As with many things in life, there’s an adjustment period, which means your early level of comfort will fluctuate. But you will feel more comfortable over time as you get accustomed to your hearing aids.
Sometimes it’s just nice to realize that these adjustments are coming. Knowing what to expect will help you get accustomed to your hearing aids in a healthy, sustainable, and comfortable way.
Adjusting to your hearing aid includes two phases:
If either the quality of sound or the physical placement of the hearing aids is disturbing you, it’s critical to speak with your hearing specialist about adjustments to help improve your all-around comfort and quicken the adjustment period.
Can I Make my Hearing Aids More Comfortable?
Fortunately, there are a few techniques that have proven to be rather successful over the years.
- Start slow: If you’re breaking in your first pair of hearing aids, you shouldn’t feel as though you have to wear them all day, every day right away. You can gradually work your way up to it. Start by wearing your hearing aid for one to four hours a day. With that being said, you’ll want to build up to wearing your hearing aids all day, but you don’t have to start there.
- Get the right fit: Hearing aids are designed to fit your ears properly. It may take a number of appointments with your hearing specialist to get everything working and fitting just right. And for maximum effectiveness and comfort, you might want to consider a custom fit hearing aid.
- Practice: Once you get your hearing aids, the world isn’t going to sound quite the same. Adjusting to sound, particularly speech, could take a while. In order to get the hang of it more quickly, there are lots of exercises you can do like 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 a little discomfort with your hearing aids. But the more quickly you adapt to your new hearing aids, the faster they’ll become a comfortable part of your everyday life. Wearing them on a daily basis is crucial to make that transition happen.
Pretty soon, you’ll be focusing on is having good conversation with friends.
