Hearing loss is a common problem that can happen due to many situations. If you experienced hearing loss, you may have thought of getting hearing aids to enhance your everyday experience. Yet, it usually takes some time to get used to them. Don’t be put off! Give yourself some time to adjust.
Luckily, there are some tips that will smooth your transition, so you’ll keep enjoying your perfect hearing aids for years to come. Soon enough, with little practice, you’ll be paying attention to what you’re hearing rather than your hearing aids.
Let’s have a look at some of these helpful tips:
1. Wear them at home first.
Don’t wait to go out home to pop your hearing aids in instead, wear them at home right away from the time you wake up. The more sound you hear in your environment, the better your brain will adapt to it and start to adjust to those sounds.
If you wait to wear them until you go out, your brain might be overwhelmed by all the extreme noise. Focus on one voice at a time!
2. Start out in a quiet room.
Start getting used to hearing indistinct sounds, like the clock ticking or a car driving by outside. It’s all a way to help your brain adjust and it won’t last long. Once you get used to them, you can start wearing them out in other environments, such as more social or crowded spaces.
3. Take breaks.
Take it slow! Wear them for only a few hours at first, then add more hours every day. Gradually increase the number of hours and the situations in which you wear them. You can wear them for longer periods as you become accustomed to them.
4. Ask your loved ones for help.
No need to get used to your new hearing aids all on your own. Your family and friends can help. They can slow down their speech or face you when they’re speaking. This helps your brain process the natural sounds it’s receiving.
Active listening is a key point. The microphones are oriented to the front in your hearing aids. If the person you’re talking to is sitting behind you or to your side, you’ll find it hard to understand. Position yourself facing the person.it will make it easier for you to lip read.
5. Watch with captions or subtitles.
A great way to watch TV with hearing aids is to watch with subtitles. It will help retrain your brain to connect sounds and language and adjust to hearing speech again.
6. Use speakerphone or connect via Bluetooth to improve hearing over the phone.
Connecting your phone directly to your hearing aids using Bluetooth provides you with the most direct sound possible. If your hearing aids cannot connect to Bluetooth, you should try taking phone calls using the speaker phone option. This option boosts the amount of sound you
hear, and you don’t have to be concerned about awkward placement of the phone over your hearing aid.
7. Attend follow-up visits.
Visit your audiologist for follow-up visits to fine-tune the sounds you’re hearing. This will help you adjust the best hearing aids in your ear and talk about challenging situations you might face. These visits are really important.
Implementing these tips ensure that you enjoy having your hearing aids and you keep using them because they continue to improve your life. It is a major life adjustment. Be patient and don’t stress out as you adapt to your surroundings with your new hearing aids.