When you’re using a hearing aid for the time, you might find the experience a bit disorienting, especially if your hearing loss has come on gradually. There will be sounds that haven’t heard clearly for a long time, so your brain will need time to readjust to interpreting those sounds. Here are some tips to help first time hearing aid wearers.
1. Give yourself time. Hearing aids can take some time to get used to. You can’t expect your brain to remember how to hear, identify, and interpret every sound again instantly. Hearing aids can feel a bit strange at first on your ears, but this is perfectly normal. After your hearing aid fitting, it might take a couple of days or even weeks before they feel comfortable. When you first put on a hearing aid, sit somewhere quiet at home. This will help you to get used to the new sound quality in your home and adjust to the noises you can hear again.
2. Start small. Getting your hearing skills back can take practice. When you first get a hearing aid, start by only wearing it for a few hours a day. If you start to feel tired or overwhelmed, remove them, but try to wear them for a little bit longer each day. The longer you can keep them on, the better you will become at identifying sounds, interpreting voices, and focusing on what you’re hearing.
3. Read aloud. Before you got your hearing aids, you might have been told to stop shouting a lot. When you experience hearing loss, it’s common to talk loudly as you can’t hear your own volume. When you can regulate your own volume again, you might need to practice. A good way to learn to do this is by reading aloud to yourself while wearing the hearing aid. This helps you to get used to an appropriate volume for your speech and will help you learn to recognize the sounds of words and speech again.
4. Pair reading and listening as often as you can. When you’re reading a book, try and read along with the matching audiobook. When watching television, turn the closed captioning on. Reading along with what you’re listening to can help your brain get better reacquainted with associating sounds with the right words and speech.
5. Enlist the help of family and friends. Your loved ones can be very helpful while you are adjusting to your hearing aid. Visit them or ask them to visit you so you can practice speaking comfortably in a group. The practice will help your brain to relearn the associations between sounds, words, and body language. It’s easier to practice with people that you know well, as their familiar voices will be easier for you to identify and understand. Your friends and family can also help by adjusting the volume on your TV. They can set the volume at a comfortable volume to their ears, so you can adjust to these volumes. Don’t turn your TV higher than someone without hearing loss would, or you could cause more damage to your hearing.
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2. Start small. Getting your hearing skills back can take practice. When you first get a hearing aid, start by only wearing it for a few hours a day. If you start to feel tired or overwhelmed, remove them, but try to wear them for a little bit longer each day. The longer you can keep them on, the better you will become at identifying sounds, interpreting voices, and focusing on what you’re hearing.
3. Read aloud. Before you got your hearing aids, you might have been told to stop shouting a lot. When you experience hearing loss, it’s common to talk loudly as you can’t hear your own volume. When you can regulate your own volume again, you might need to practice. A good way to learn to do this is by reading aloud to yourself while wearing the hearing aid. This helps you to get used to an appropriate volume for your speech and will help you learn to recognize the sounds of words and speech again.
4. Pair reading and listening as often as you can. When you’re reading a book, try and read along with the matching audiobook. When watching television, turn the closed captioning on. Reading along with what you’re listening to can help your brain get better reacquainted with associating sounds with the right words and speech.
5. Enlist the help of family and friends. Your loved ones can be very helpful while you are adjusting to your hearing aid. Visit them or ask them to visit you so you can practice speaking comfortably in a group. The practice will help your brain to relearn the associations between sounds, words, and body language. It’s easier to practice with people that you know well, as their familiar voices will be easier for you to identify and understand. Your friends and family can also help by adjusting the volume on your TV. They can set the volume at a comfortable volume to their ears, so you can adjust to these volumes. Don’t turn your TV higher than someone without hearing loss would, or you could cause more damage to your hearing.
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