Getting the Most Out of Your New Hearing Aids
Congratulations—you’re prepared to join the millions of Americans who have realized how utilizing hearing aids can make life much more enjoyable and rewarding. Before long, you’ll be hearing sounds you’ve long forgotten about, participating in stimulating conversations, and listening to music with better perceptiveness for each instrument.
But before you can get to all that, you’ll have to proceed through a quick period of adjustment to get used to your new hearing aids. Here are five recommendations to help you make it through this stage and to help you get the most out of your new technology.
1. Visit a Hearing Care Professional
If you want the best hearing attainable, there’s no avoiding the first step, which is contacting a hearing care professional. They can help you find the right hearing aid that matches your hearing loss, lifestyle, and financial position. And, even more importantly, they can custom-fit and program your new hearing aid so that it’s fine tuned for your distinctive hearing loss.
Your hearing loss, like a fingerprint, is unique. That means every hearing aid should always be programmed differently—and this requires the skill-set of a hearing care professional.
2. Give Your Hearing Aids a Chance
Your brand new hearing aids will take some getting used to. You’ll hear sounds you haven’t listened to in a long time, your voice may sound unusual, and sound might overall just seem “off.” This is completely normal: you simply need time to adapt.
Get started by making a commitment to wear your hearing aids for as much of the day as possible, for at a minimum a few weeks. Put them in when you get up in the morning and take them out before going to bed. Although it may be awkward initially, you’ll adjust to better hearing in no time—and it will be well worth the effort and hard work.
If you find that you’re having a hard time adjusting, schedule an appointment with your hearing care professional. Hearing aids can be fine-tuned, so you never have to give up on better hearing.
3. Start Small
We suggest adapting to your hearing aids to start with in the comfort of your home. Attempt watching a movie or television show and paying special attention to the conversation; engage in one-on-one conversations in a quiet room; and listen to music while attempting to pick out different instruments and pitches.
Next, when you’re more comfortable, you can try your hearing aids out in more challenging surroundings like at parties, restaurants, and movie theaters. Modern hearing aids come with advanced features and environmental settings that can easily handle these heightened listening demands—which segues nicely to the fourth tip.
4. Learn the Advanced Features
After you’ve adapted to your hearing aids, you should begin to learn a few of the more sophisticated features. With the assistance of your hearing specialist, you can discover how to take advantage of the functionality and convenience of your modern hearing aids.
Depending on your specific model, you’ll have the ability to do things like wirelessly stream music and phone calls straight to your hearing aids, manipulate the volume from your smart-phone or digital watch, and easily switch settings to optimize your hearing in a variety of environments. Make sure to speak to your hearing specialist about all the features that may be beneficial to you.
5. Maintain Your Hearing Aids
Finally, you’ll want to make sure that you maintain your hearing aids. This means daily cleaning, proper storage, and managing your battery supply. Your hearing specialist will help you combine hearing aid maintenance and care into your daily routine so that it becomes automatic and effortless.
You’ll also want to get your hearing aids professionally cleaned and examined one or two times annually to ensure proper functioning for many years.
We’d love to hear from you: if you currently have hearing aids, tell us about your experience! Let us know how you adapted to your hearing aids and any advice you’d give to those just getting started.