What to expect from a hearing aid

A hearing aid will improve the quality of your life immediately, but it does take time to get the hearing aid to work at its optimum factory performance. Give yourself plenty of time to adjust to the changes that it will make in your life. Remember that it amplifies all sounds including the sounds that you do not want to hear. A hearing aid will never ever make your hearing worse and if you have tinnitus, it may help to mask or reduce it.

Recognise the limitations of your hearing aid

 It will never give you perfect hearing, but it will assist you in many situations, it should help you hear telephone conversations easier, and make it easier to hear the spoken word. It should make you feel less isolated from your friends and family, and it will help to restore your confidence.

Learn to put it in your ear safely

Hearing aids unfortunately are very tiny things, which are difficult to place in your ear correctly. If a hearing aid falls on something soft no harm will come to it. However, if they are dropped on a hard surface, such as a bathroom floor there is a potential to damage the hearing aid. As a precaution until you learn to fit the hearing aid with ease it is an idea to sit down with a towel on your lap. 

The sound of your voice

The sound of your own voice alters and many people find this distracting until they get used to it. Some people who suffer from a hearing loss tend to raise their voice because they don’t hear themselves correctly, after correcting their hearing with a hearing aid they hear their own voice more and then tend to speak at a more comfortable level.
 
 
When you get a new hearing aid you have a blockage in your ear, because you have a physical object in your ear canal. This effect is known as the occlusion effect, it is a plugged up feeling and it can take a few days to get used to the effect. Depending on the type of hearing aid a vent can combat the occlusion effect. In the case of digital hearing aids a change of programming will ease the situation. There are many ways to combat this effect and if occlusion continues to be a problem then a discussion with your hearing care professional will help to find the solution that works for you.
 

Coping with Feedback

When sound, which has already been intensified, enters the hearing aid, it is re-amplified to produce a whine or a whistle, typically a high-pitched sound. To a degree feedback is part of life with a hearing aid. It can occur when you are inserting it and it switches on, or whilst you are embracing another person, or when placing the side of your head against a chair back. Whilst there are some areas that you have to learn to live with, there are levels of feedback, which can be adjusted. If your hearing aid fits, and it occurs when you are chewing or moving your head in a way, which is considered normal movement, then this may be corrected, you must consult with your hearing aid audiologist.

The effect of wind

One of the surprising effects of a hearing aid is that as wind comes into contact with your hearing aid you can hear it, however with modern hearing aids it is not the problem that it was, as a lot of aids now have wind shields over the microphones or some have digital circuitry that can be programmed to reduce wind noise.

Hearing sounds that you have forgotten

For a lot of people the ability to hear has diminished gradually and there will be certain sounds that you have forgotten about, such as the noise or the hum of machinery, such as a fridge or gas fire. These new sounds you will be able to hear again. However if you have had wax in your ears and then had your ears syringed it is the same effect and you get used to it in a matter of weeks. With a hearing aid you have the luxury of being able to tune out sounds that you do not wish to hear.

Try not to achieve all your goals with a hearing aid at once. It is tremendously tiring learning to hear with a hearing aid. The number of new sounds that have not been heard for years is vast and it is a lot for the brain to cope with. Wear your hearing aid for as long as you are comfortable and don’t be against taking it out and having a rest from it for a period of time if it becomes tiresome. You now have the luxury of not listening when you want to not listen it is o.k. to turn it off! Accept that it may take you several months to get your hearing aid working for you in the way that you want it to.