Congratulations! You’ve just become the proud owner of hearing aids – an incredible piece of modern technology. But, just like with any new device, there will be things that hearing aid wearers wish somebody had informed them about.
Let’s assess how a new hearing aid owner can eliminate the 9 most common hearing aid mistakes.
1. Failing to comprehend hearing aid functionality
Or, more specifically, understand how your hearing aid works. The hearing experience will be significantly enhanced if you know how to utilize advanced features for different settings like on the street, at the movies, or in a restaurant.
It might be able to connect wirelessly to your smartphone, TV, or stereo. It might also have a setting that makes phone conversations clearer.
If you use this sophisticated technology in such a basic way, without learning about these features, you can easily get stuck in a rut. Hearing aids nowadays can do more than make the sound louder.
Practice wearing your hearing aid in different settings in order to learn how to attain the clearest sound quality. Check out how well you hear by getting a friend or family member to help you.
As with anything new, it will get easier after a bit of practice. Just raising and lowering the volume won’t even come close to providing the hearing experience that utilizing these more advanced features will.
2. Thinking that your hearing will immediately improve
In line with number one, many new hearing aid users think their hearing will be perfect as they walk out of the office. This isn’t a correct assumption. It normally takes up to a month for most new users to become comfortable with their new hearing aids. But don’t get discouraged. They also say it’s really worth it.
After getting home, give yourself a couple of days to get used to the new situation. It’s like breaking in a new pair of shoes. You might need to wear it in short intervals.
Start in a calm setting with a friend where you’re just talking. Familiar voices may sound different initially, and this can be disorienting. Ask your friends if you’re speaking too loud and make the required adjustments.
Slowly increase the time you wear your hearing aids and gradually add new places to visit.
You will have wonderful hearing experiences in front of you if you can just be patient with yourself.
3. Being untruthful about your level of hearing loss at your hearing assessment
In order to be certain you get the right hearing aid technology, it’s important to answer any questions we may ask honestly.
If you already 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’re experiencing.
As an illustration, people with hearing loss in the high frequency range will require a particular type of hearing aid. People who have mid-range hearing loss will need different technology and etc.
4. Not getting a hearing aid fitting
Your hearing aids need to juggle several requirements at once: They need to effectively boost sound, they need to be easy to put in and remove, and they need to be comfortable in your ears. All three of those variables will be resolved during your fitting.
During hearing aid fitting sessions, you might:
- Do hearing tests to adjust the proper power for your hearing aid.
- Have your ears accurately measured or have molds made (or both).
5. Not tracking your results
It’s highly recommended that you take notes on how your hearing aid performs and feels after you get fitted. If you have trouble hearing in big rooms, make a note of that. Make a note if one ear seems tighter than the other. If everything feels great, make a note. This can help us make personalized, minute changes to help your hearing aids reach peak comfort and efficiency.
6. Not foreseeing how you’ll utilize your hearing aids
Some hearing aids are water-resistant. However, water can severely damage others. Perhaps you enjoy certain activities and you are willing to pay extra for more sophisticated features.
You can ask our opinion but the choice is yours. Only you know which state-of-the-art features you’ll actually use and that’s worth committing to because if the hearing aids don’t fit in with your lifestyle you won’t wear them.
You and your hearing aid will be together for several years. So you don’t want to be disappointed by settling when you really would have benefited from a certain function.
A few more things to contemplate
- You may care about whether people can see your hearing aid. Or, you might want to make a bold statement.
- You might want something that is really automated. Or perhaps you’re more of a do-it-yourself type of individual. How much battery life will you require?
- To be very satisfied, discuss these preferences before your fitting.
Many challenges that arise regarding fit, lifestyle, and how you use your hearing aids can be resolved through the fitting process. Also, you might be able to try out your hearing aids before you commit to a purchase. This test period will help you determine which brand will be best for your requirements.
7. Failing to take proper care of your hearing aid
Moisture is a serious issue for the majority of hearing aids. If you live in a humid place, acquiring a dehumidifier might be worth the money. Keeping your hearing aid in the bathroom where people take baths or showers is a bad idea.
Always wash your hands before touching the hearing aid or batteries. The performance of your hearing aid and the longevity of its battery can be effected by the oils normally found in your skin.
Don’t let earwax or skin cells build up on the hearing aid. Instead, clean it according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Taking simple actions like these will improve the life and function of your hearing aid.
8. Failing to have a spare set of batteries
Frequently, it’s the worst time when new hearing aid owners learn this one. All of a sudden, while you’re watching your favorite show, your batteries quit just as you’re about to discover “who done it”.
Your battery life depends, like any electronic device, on the outside environment and how you use it. So always keep an extra set of batteries handy, even if you just replaced them. Don’t miss out on something important because of an unpredictable battery.
9. Not practicing your hearing exercises
When you first get your hearing aids, there may be an assumption, and it’s not necessarily a baseless assumption, that your hearing aid will do all the heavy lifting. But it’s not only your ears that are affected by hearing loss, it’s also the regions of your brain in charge of interpreting all those sounds.
Once you get your hearing aids, you’ll be able to begin the work of rebuilding some of those ear-to-brain pathways and links. This may occur quite naturally for some people, especially if the hearing loss was rather recent. But others will need a more structured plan to rebuild their ability to hear. The following are a couple of prevalent strategies.
Reading out loud
One of the best ways you can recreate those pathways between your ears and your brain is to spend some time reading out loud. It may feel a little silly at first, but don’t let that stop you. You’re practicing reconnecting the experience of saying words with the sounds they make. Your hearing will get better and better as you keep practicing.
Audiobooks
You can always use audiobooks if reading out loud isn’t attractive to you. You can get a physical copy of the book and an audio copy. Then as the audiobook plays, you can read along. This does the same work as reading something out loud, you hear words while reading them. This will train the language parts of your brain to hear speech again.
Resources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10900/
