Tanya is sitting with her hearing specialist, being fitted for her very first pair of hearing aids. And it’s the reason for some anxiety. Her anxiety isn’t actually that bad. But hearing aids are new to her, and she’s a little worried that she will feel uncomfortable with a high tech gizmo sitting in her ears, particularly because she doesn’t really like earpods or earplugs.
These worries are not only felt by Tanya. Fit and overall comfort are doubts for many new hearing aid users. Tanya wants to wear her hearing aid. Now she won’t need to crank the television up so loud that it disturbs her family or even her neighbors. But will those hearing aids be comfortable?
Adjusting to Hearing Aids For The First Time
So, is wearing hearing aids uncomfortable? Simply put: some people find them to be a little uncomfortable when they first wear them. As with many things in life, there’s an adjustment time, which means your early level of comfort will vary. But you will feel more comfortable after a while as you get used to your hearing aids.
Knowing that these adjustments are coming can help ease some of the anxiety. Knowing what to expect will help your adjustment period be smoother.
There are two phases to your adjustment:
In order to better your general comfort and hasten the adjustment period, talk to your hearing specialist if you are experiencing trouble with the physical positioning or sound quality of your hearing aids.
Can I Make my Hearing Aids More Comfortable?
Fortunately, there are a few methods that have proven to be fairly successful over the years.
- Get the right fit: Fitting your ears properly is what hearing aids are made to do. It may take a number of appointments with your hearing specialist to get everything working and fitting just right. You might also want to consider a custom fit hearing aid for optimal comfort and effectiveness.
- Start slow: You don’t need to wear your hearing aids twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week right away. You can build up to that. Start by wearing your hearing aid for one to four hours a day. Having said that, you’ll want to work up to using your hearing aids all day, but you don’t have to begin there.
- Practice: The world may sound quite a bit different once you get your hearing aids. And it may take a while for your ears to adjust, especially when it comes to speech. There are many practices (reading along with an audiobook or watching TV with the closed captions turned on) that can help you get the hang of this a little more quickly.
Making Your Hearing Aids More Comfortable
For the first few days or weeks, there may be a little discomfort with your hearing aids. Before long you’re hearing aids will become a comfortable part of your day to day life and the sooner you make the adjustments, the sooner this will occur. Wearing them on a daily basis is essential to make that transition work.
Pretty soon, you’ll be focusing on is having good conversation with friends.