Tanya is sitting with her hearing specialist, being fitted for her very first set of hearing aids. And it’s the reason for some level anxiety. Not, you know, a ton of anxiety. But she’s never had to use hearing aids before, and she’s a little concerned that she will be uncomfortable with a high tech gizmo sitting in her ear canal, especially since she’s never been a big fan of earplugs or earbuds.
These worries are not only felt by Tanya. Fit and general comfort are concerns for many first time hearing aid users. Tanya wants to use her hearing aid. She’s looking forward to hearing her son’s jokes and listening to her TV at a level not likely to cause issues with the neighbors. But how comfortable will those hearing aids be?
How to Adjust When You First Use Your Hearing Aids
So, is wearing hearing aids uncomfortable? The short answer is: some individuals find them to be a little bit uncomfortable when they first use them. As with lots of things in life, there’s an adjustment time, meaning your initial level of comfort will fluctuate. But you will get more comfortable over time as you become accustomed to your hearing aids.
Often 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.
There are two phases to your adjustment:
In order to better your overall comfort and quicken the adjustment period, talk to your hearing specialist if you’re having 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 techniques that have proven to be quite successful over the years.
- Get the right fit: Hearing aids are made to fit your ears properly. It might take several consultations 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 won’t sound quite the same. Adapting to sound, particularly speech, could take a while. There are many exercises (reading along with an audiobook or watching your favorite movie with the closed captions on) that can help you get the hang of this a little more quickly.
- Start slow: If you’re breaking in your first pair of hearing aids, you shouldn’t feel as though you need to wear them all day, every day at first. You can build up to that. 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.
You’re Hearing Aids Can be More Comfortable
Your hearing aids might feel a little awkward 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 day to day life. In order to make that transition, it’s essential that you wear them every day.
Pretty soon, you’ll be thinking about is having good conversation with friends.