Getting Used to Your New Hearing Aids

You made the appointment, completed a hearing test and with the help of Sacramento’s The Hearing Solution, chose a hearing aid to fit your budget and lifestyle. So now you start wearing it full-time to pick up all those sounds you’ve been missing.

But your initial experience may be a little unsettling and your first day may go something like this: “What is that noise? Is my car making a noise? Has air always been swooshing into the windows like that? And the turn signal is really loud! Since when has it been so loud? Everything seems louder. Even my clothes are making noise when I move. Clothes make noise? Since when?”

Life is full of noises. But if you lost your hearing gradually, as most people do, those noises got softer and muted through the years. It happened so gradually you probably didn’t notice those sounds fading away. Instead, you likely focused on the fact that conversations were harder to follow, the television volume was never high enough and those British accents on PBS were now impossibly muddled. The fact that your air stopped swooshing and your clothes became quiet? That change in life you didn’t notice.

Just Relax

The first thing to do when wearing a new hearing aid is to relax.

It's going to take time to get used to noises and surprise at the amount of everyday noise is normal and to be expected. Most everyone who gets a hearing aid experiences a period of adjustment as they start experiencing everything their ears have been missing.

What you shouldn’t do is throw your new hearing aids in a drawer and assume they aren’t for you! Here are some things to keep in mind during the initial adjustment period:

1. Remember Your Hearing Goals

Keep firmly in mind why you got hearing aids. You want to hear! Hearing everything, even annoying sounds, is a good thing, because it means your hearing aids are working properly. The Hearing Solution can adjust them to match the sounds heard during your most common daily activities, which helps you get used to them.

But remember — excellent hearing was the goal, so hearing lots of sounds again indicates success!

2. Your Brain Will Adjust

After years of not hearing all the sounds of life, it takes your brain time to adjust to the myriads of sounds around you. The hum of the dishwasher, water dripping from the faucet, the clock ticking, your neighbor’s noisy kids, people crunching and munching on food — it may all seem overwhelming and annoying at first.

Your brain needs to be retrained by practicing filtering out the unnecessary and assigning higher priority to life’s more important noises. It can take a few weeks for some, several weeks for others, but soon you’ll be able to tune out all the chomping and dripping and ticking and humming so you can focus on listening and communicating. So give your brain time, it will adjust.

3. Know When to Rest and When to Push

In the beginning, when your hearing aids are new, set a schedule of wearing them for only a set period of time each day. Gradually build up to wearing them during most of your waking hours. If you have one of those days when everything seems to be annoying, maybe you’re dealing with a headache or some other issues, go ahead and take your hearing aids out or turn the volume down and give your brain a rest. After all, many people with excellent hearing put ear plugs in to drown out life’s noises.

There’s nothing wrong with occasionally setting aside your hearing aids. But do wear them as much as you comfortably are able. After all, you purchased them, so you should be benefiting from them.

4. Stay Positive

Taking steps to hear better is the right thing to do! It helps to preserve vital parts of your nervous system to prevent serious signs of aging. So although some bumps along the way are to be expected, Dr. Julia Tanner will help you work them out. This is her specialty and the focus of every staff member at our hearing clinic. Millions of people use and love their hearing aids, and you too can be among them.

5. Follow-up is Essential

Regular follow-up appointments are part of the hearing treatment offered at The Hearing Solution, and we strongly encourage you to keep your appointments. But if you want to see us sooner than your scheduled appointment, or if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We want hearing aids to work for you! Dr. Tanner and our experienced staff have the equipment, knowledge, and expertise to fine-tune your hearing aids during each appointment, based on your daily experiences in what we like to call real world testing. So let modern technology work for you by focusing on your goals, staying positive, and taking advantage of the help provided by The Hearing Solution.