Hearing aids are amazing devices that will change your life and give you back your hearing. However, when you first put on your new hearing aids you might be surprised by all the sounds you hear. The world will suddenly seem a lot louder, and you’ll hear sounds you haven’t heard in years! This is why there’s an adjustment period when you first get hearing aids. It will take a few days for your ears and brain to get used to your new devices.
HEARING NEW SOUNDS
Have you had hearing loss for a few years? There are a number of sounds you’re not probably not hearing anymore. This includes soft sounds around you, like chirping birds, the clicking of your signal light, or even the sound of someone speaking in another room in your home.
When you first put on your new hearing aids in our office, you’ll be shocked by all the new sounds you can suddenly hear. You’ll start listening to background office chatter, the hum of the air conditioner, or someone walking down the hallway outside. You’ll also feel like the sounds in the office are louder, or that people are speaking much louder. Hearing all these new and loud sounds can be a bit overwhelming at first, but your ears will soon adjust.
FEELING FATIGUED
Hearing aids help the cells in your ear pick up on more of the sounds in your environment. They help your ears send more sound signals to the brain. The auditory region of your brain starts getting a lot more sound information, and it has to relearn how to process and interpret all these sounds. That’s why the first few days with hearing aids can seem a bit exhausting.
Adjusting to your hearing aids will take extra energy. You’ll need more energy to make sense of all the new sounds you’re hearing. You will also need to relearn how to distinguish between background sounds and the sounds you want to hear. The good news is that once your brain relearns how to hear these sounds, you’ll use way less energy straining to hear, and you won’t feel fatigued.
BE PATIENT
Do you wear prescription glasses? For most people, you will see better from the moment you slip on your new pair of glasses. Hearing aids don’t work quite the same way. You’ll start hearing differently immediately, but it will take your brain a few days to get used to the new hearing. Your ears are very different from your eyes, so be patient with yourself.
WEAR YOUR HEARING AIDS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
When you’re adjusting to new hearing aids, all the new sounds around you can get frustrating. It’s ok to take breaks when you need to. But try to wear your hearing aids as much as possible. This helps you adjust much faster. Once you’re used to hearing and processing all these new sounds, you’ll never want to take your hearing aids off.
TALK TO FRIENDS WITH HEARING AIDS
Everyone goes through an adjustment period when they get their first hearing aids. Talk to friends with hearing aids and hear how the experience was for them. They may have more tips for how to adjust to hearing aids. They’ll also be able to remind you that the adjustment process is short, and within a few days you’ll be hearing better than ever.
WE’RE HERE TO HELP
When you first get hearing aids, we’ll adjust your hearing devices to match your hearing loss. But as you get used to your hearing aids in the first week, you may want them adjusted slightly differently to help you hear even better.
Visit us for a fitting whenever you’d like to recalibrate your hearing aids. You can also get your hearing aids refitted when your hearing abilities change. We recommend getting a hearing test at least once every year so you can get your hearing aids readjusted to match your hearing.
Our team is here to help you adjust to your new devices. Tell us how it’s going, and we’ll offer more tips for how to easily adjust to your new hearing aids. We’ll also make sure your devices are perfectly fitted and adjusted to match all your hearing needs.