Congratulations! You’ve just become the proud owner of hearing aids – an incredible piece of modern tech. But, just like with any new device, there will be things that hearing aid wearers wish someone had informed them about.
Let’s examine how a new hearing aid owner can eliminate the 9 most common hearing aid errors.
1. Not learning how hearing aids work
Or, more specifically, understand how your hearing aid works. The hearing experience will be dramatically improved if you know how to use advanced features for different environments like on the street, at the movies, or in a restaurant.
Your wireless devices, including smartphones and televisions can most likely sync wirelessly to your hearing aids. It might also have a setting that makes phone calls clearer.
If you fail to learn about these features, it’s so easy to get stuck in a rut by using your technologically-sophisticated hearing aid in a basic way. Hearing aids nowadays can do more than make the sound louder.
In order to get the clearest and best sound quality, take some time to practice wearing the hearing aid in different places. Ask a friend or family member to help you so you can test how well you can hear.
As with anything new, it will get easier after a little practice. Just raising and lowering the volume won’t even come close to giving you the hearing experience that utilizing these more advanced features will.
2. Expecting immediate improvement in your hearing
It’s not uncommon for a new hearing aid users to think that their hearing will be optimal from the first day. This assumption is usually not how it works. Some people say it takes a month or more before they are entirely comfortable with their hearing aid. But stay positive. They also say it’s really worth it.
Give yourself a few days, after getting home, to get used to your new situation. It won’t be that much different than breaking in new shoes. You may need to wear it in short intervals.
Start by just quietly talking with friends. Simple voices might sound different initially, and this can be disorienting. Ask about the volume of your own voice and make corrections.
Slowly increase the time you use your hearing aids and gradually add new places to visit.
You will have wonderful hearing experiences ahead of you if you can just be patient with yourself.
3. Being untruthful about your degree of hearing loss at your hearing test
In order to be certain you get the correct hearing aid technology, it’s crucial to answer any questions we may ask truthfully.
If you have your hearing aid and realize that maybe you weren’t as honest as you may have been, go back and ask to be retested. But it’s easier if you get it right the first time. The hearing aid type and style that will be best for you will be determined by the degree and kind of hearing loss you have.
For example, some hearing aids are better for individuals with hearing loss in the high-frequency range. Others will be better for people with mid-frequency hearing loss and so on.
4. Failing to have your hearing aid fitted
There are several requirements that your hearing aids need to simultaneously manage: they need to be comfortable on or in your ears, they need to be simple to put in and take out, and they need to boost the sounds around you effectively. All three of those variables will be addressed during your fitting.
During hearing aid fitting sessions, you might:
- Have your hearing tested to determine the power level of your hearing aid.
- Have your ears accurately measured or have molds made (or both).
5. Not tracking your results
After you’ve been fitted, it’s worthwhile to take notes on how your hearing aid performs and feels. If you have difficulty hearing in large rooms, make a note of that. If your right ear seems tighter than your left, note that. Even note if everything feels great. This can help us make personalized, minute changes to help your hearing aids reach peak comfort and efficiency.
6. Not thinking about how you will utilize your hearing aid ahead of time
Water-resistant hearing aids do exist. Others, however, can be damaged or even ruined by water. Some have sophisticated features you may be willing to pay more for because you take pleasure in certain activities.
We can give you some recommendations but you must decide for yourself. Only you know which advanced features you’ll actually use and that’s worth investing in because if the hearing aids don’t fit in with your lifestyle you won’t wear them.
You’ll be using your hearing aid for quite a while. So you don’t want to be disappointed by settling when you really would have benefited from a certain function.
Some other things to consider
- To be very satisfied, talk about these preferences before your fitting.
- You might care about whether people can see your hearing aid. Or perhaps you want to wear them with style.
- Maybe you want a high level of automation. Or perhaps you enjoy having more control over the volume. How much battery life will you require?
Throughout the fitting process we can deal with many of the challenges with regards to lifestyle, fit, and how you use your hearing aids. In addition, many hearing aid makers will allow you to try out the devices before deciding. This test period will help you determine which brand will be best for your requirements.
7. Failing to take sufficient care of your hearing aid
Most hearing aids are really sensitive to moisture. If you live in a humid place, getting a dehumidifier may be worth the money. Storing your hearing aid in the bathroom where people take baths or showers is a bad idea.
Before you handle your hearing aid or its battery, be sure to clean your hands. The performance of your hearing aid and the duration of its battery can be impacted by the oils normally present in your skin.
The hearing aid shouldn’t be allowed to collect earwax and skin cells. Instead, the manufacturer’s suggested cleaning procedures should be implemented.
Taking simple actions like these will improve the life and function of your hearing aid.
8. Failing to have a set of spare batteries
Often, it’s the worst time when new hearing aid owners learn this one. When you’re about to discover who did it at the critical moment of your favorite show, your batteries die without warning.
Your battery life depends, like any electronic device, on the external environment and how you use it. So always keep an extra set of batteries handy, even if you recently changed them. Don’t miss something important because of an unpredictable battery.
9. Not practicing your hearing exercises
When you first get your hearing aids, there may be a presumption, and it’s not always a baseless assumption, that your hearing aid will do all the work. But the regions of your brain in charge of interpreting sound are also affected by hearing loss not just your ears.
You can begin to work on restoring those ear-to-brain pathways once you get your new hearing aids. This may occur quite naturally for some people, particularly if the hearing loss was somewhat recent. But other people will need a more structured plan to rebuild their ability to hear. A couple of typical strategies include the following.
Reading out loud
One of the best ways you can recreate those connections between your ears and your brain is to spend some time reading out loud. It may feel a little foolish at first, but don’t allow that to stop you. You’re doing the essential work of connecting the words (which you read) to the sound (which you say). The more you create those connections, the better your hearing (and your hearing aid) will work.
Audiobooks
If you don’t like the idea of reading something out loud personally, then you can always go the audiobook route. You can get a physical copy of the book and an audio copy. Then, you read along with the book while the audiobook plays. You’ll hear a word as you’re reading it just like reading out loud. And that helps the hearing-and-language part of your brain get used to hearing (and understanding) speech again.
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Resources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10900/