1. Hearing aids may feel funny in your ears, at first.
Feeling like you have something in your ears is completely natural when you begin to wear hearing
aids. Just like you adjust to the feeling of glasses or sunglasses sitting on the bridge of your nose, the
ear needs time to adjust to the feeling of your hearing aids. Pain is not normal, so if you experience pain you should contact your Audiologist immediately!
2. Some sounds will be louder than you are used to.
Wearing your hearing aids in quiet will allow your brain time to adjust to the new sounds it is hearing
in a relaxed setting. Soft sounds like the clock ticking, water running & fan noises may seem
unnaturally loud to you at first. With time, your brain recognizes and learns to ignore or filter out these sounds for you.
3. Take things at your own pace.
Some people are quite comfortable wearing their new hearing aids all day every day, and others are not. If you need to take breaks from your hearing aids, this is also a very natural experience. Try to wear them a minimum of 6 hours/day at first and add a little time each day until you are comfortable wearing them for a full day.
4. Your voice may sound a bit strange.
Hearing aids change the way that you hear things, including your voice. Try reading aloud from a
book or newspaper. It can take time but as your brain adjusts, your voice will sound normal again.
5. Visual information helps your brain connect sounds with language
Make sure you face the person who is speaking so that you can use visual cues like lips moving and
facial expressions to help you fill in the blanks for sounds you missed hearing. Try also turning on
closed captioning on your TV because reading and listening at the same time can re-train your brain to
understand speech & language.