subject: Adjusting To Your New Hearing Aid [print this page] A hearing aid does not offer a cure for a loss of hearing, in much the same way that eyeglasses or contact lenses will not cure a problem with your sight. What it will do is improve your ability to hear. Unfortunately, you will still experience problems with your hearing in various settings.
When you first begin wearing the auditory device, you will need to go through an adjustment period. It takes a little longer to adjust to new hearing equipment than it does to a new pair of prescription glasses, so be prepared for that. You will have to devise a means of working with your hearing aid, and not against it. You will also have to adopt a new way of hearing voices and sounds around you.
Do not push yourself too hard. Give yourself time to deal with all of the changes that a new auditory apparatus brings to your life. At first, you may feel a little overwhelmed and even discouraged. Getting used to a hearing aid takes patience and practice. You will eventually get there.
As the learning process takes place, you will need to practice identifying the left device from the right one. You must teach yourself how to put the aids in and how to remove them. You also must learn how to replace the battery.
If in the beginning, you find them not as comfortable as you were expecting, wear them for a brief period of time for the first couple of days that you have them. The time it takes to adapt to an auditory aid is not the same for everyone.
To become acquainted with the equipment, it is vital that you wear them in a variety of hearing settings to get to know how they work. Your voice may sound much louder to you than you expect it to sound! If you do sound too loud to yourself, the hearing professional should be able to adjust your auditory device to correct this issue. The majority of people get used to the sound of their own voice over time while wearing their hearing aid. It will definitely be a strange experience at first though!
You will need to go back to the dispenser for at least three to five follow-up appointments (or tune-ups). Any number of things might require adjustment on the auditory aid. For this reason, you will need to work as closely as possible with the dispenser to ensure that you are given the correct settings.
If your auditory equipment makes a whistling sound in your ears, the setting may need to be modified in one manner or another. It is also possible however that you may have wax or fluid build-up in your ears. You should have this checked by your doctor.
