Tanya is being fitted for a new set of hearing aids by her hearing specialist. And it’s the reason for some level anxiety. Her anxiety isn’t actually that bad. But she’s never used hearing aids before, and she’s a little worried about how comfortable she’ll feel with a high tech gizmo inside of her ears, especially because she doesn’t really like earpods or earplugs.
These worries are not only felt by Tanya. Countless first-time hearing aid users have doubts about the overall fit and comfort of their hearing aids. Tanya wants to use her hearing aid. Now she won’t need to crank the television up so loud that it disturbs her family or even the neighbors. But will those hearing aids be comfortable?
How to Adjust When You First Wear Your Hearing Aids
So, is wearing hearing aids uncomfortable? Put simply: some people find them to be a little uncomfortable when they first use them. Initial comfort levels will vary because, as with many things in life, there’s an adjustment period. But you will get more comfortable after a while as you become acquainted with your hearing aids.
Knowing that these adjustments will happen can help alleviate some of the anxiety. Knowing what to expect will help your adjustment period be smoother.
There are two stages to your adjustment:
In order to enhance your overall comfort and hasten the adjustment period, speak with your hearing specialist if you are having trouble with the physical placement or sound quality of your hearing aids.
How Can I Enhance The Comfort of My Hearing Aids?
Over the years, luckily, there are a few techniques that have worked fairly well.
- Start slow: If you’re breaking in your first pair of hearing aids, you shouldn’t feel as if you need to wear them all day, every day right away. You can gradually work your way up to it. Begin by wearing your hearing aid for a couple to a few 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: Fitting your ears well is what hearing aids are designed to do. You’ll obviously want to talk about fit with your hearing specialist right away but you’ll also want to see your hearing specialist for follow-up fittings to make sure everything is working correctly and the fit is perfect. You may also want to consider a custom fit hearing aid for optimal comfort and effectiveness.
- Practice: Once you get your hearing aids, the world won’t sound quite the same. And it could take some time for your ears to adjust, especially when it comes to speech. There are many exercises (reading along with an audiobook or watching your favorite movie with the closed captions on) that can help you get better at this a little faster.
Making Your Hearing Aids More Comfortable
Your hearing aids may feel a little uncomfortable for the first few days or weeks. But the faster you adapt to your new hearing aids, the faster they’ll become a comfortable part of your everyday life. In order to make that transition, it’s critical that you wear them every day.
Before you know it, you’ll be focusing on is having good conversation with friends.