Adjusting to Your New Digital Hearing Aid

Getting a new digital hearing aid can greatly enhance your life by allowing you to more clearly hear and understand the world around you. As with any new technological device, a digital hearing aid usually requires an adjustment period before you’re completely comfortable with it. You will also need to see your professional several times for fine tuning during the process.

Several key steps can make this adjustment quicker and easier. If you keep these in mind, you’ll soon discover that you can’t imagine living without your digital hearing aid.

Know How to Care for Your Digital Hearing Aid

It’s important to learn everything you can about your digital hearing aid before you leave the professionals office. They will show you how to change the batteries, clean the hearing aid properly and how to distinguish the right ear piece from the left ear piece. Practice changing the battery and inserting and removing your hearing aids a few times before you take them home. This way, if you make any mistakes, your professional can correct them. Don't worry if you forget something. Your hearing professional will be seeing you for repeat follow-up visits and will be happy to explain it again.

It’s a good idea to try using your cell phone with your hearing aid before you leave your professionals office. If you get feedback or other types of interference, it will be a fairly simple procedure to adjust the digital hearing aid so that it is compatible with your cell phone.

It’s crucial to know how to clean your hearing aid. Wax build-up and debris in the ear are two common problems that can collect debris on your hearing aid. This debris can then lead to whistling, clicking or sound distortion. Your audiologist should thoroughly explain how to remove wax and other debris from your digital hearing aid to keep it working in peak condition.

You should also learn how to make adjustments to the volume control and any other functions. Remember, you may have to adjust your digital hearing aids for particular situations such as a crowded restaurant versus your own family room.

Try listening to your own voice when you begin using a digital hearing aid. You’ll discover that your own voice sounds different, like listening to a recording. Getting used to this may take a few days so practice speaking out loud when you’re at home to hasten the adjustment. Reading out loud to yourself is an excellent way to get adapted to your voice and to become accustomed to hearing speech sounds again. Your professional will often need to make adjustments to the hearing aids to improve the sound quality of your voice.

Some Patients Need to Take It Slow

Some patients cannot immediately start wearing their digital hearing aid twelve or more hours at a time. It may take your ear a while to adjust to new levels of hearing. Everyone is different, so adjust your wearing schedule for what is comfortable for you. Your goal should be to wear the hearing aids all day, everyday.

For the first several days, you may want to try wearing your digital hearing aid a few hours at a time. This allows you to adjust to the new sound quality and lets your ear get used to the feel of the hearing aid so that it doesn’t irritate the ear canal.

During the initial days of adjusting to your hearing aids, don’t immerse yourself in a crowd or use them at a noisy restaurant. The sensory overload you may experience can be too much at first. Try using your digital hearing aid at home for the first several days, perhaps while talking to your family, watching television or taking a walk with a friend. This allows your brain time to adapt until you’re comfortable with your hearing aids.

Consider taking notes in a journal so that you can give your professional an accurate picture of your concerns at your next visit. He or she can then work with you to address those issues and adjust your digital hearing aid for the best possible performance for you.

Finally, remember that it is a hearing aid, not a replacement ear. While hearing aids are amazing devices, they will never restore your hearing to its original condition. One of the biggest mistakes patients make is to expect too much from their hearing aids and focus on the negatives. If you look for problems you will find them. Try not to focus on your hearing aids, relax and enjoy life. Then you will find that your hearing aids are a wonderful communication tool.