Congratulations! You’ve just become the proud owner of hearing aids – a wonderful piece of modern tech. But, as with all new devices, there will be things that hearing aid owners wish someone had informed them about.
Let’s examine how a new hearing aid user can eliminate the 9 most common hearing aid errors.
1. Failing to comprehend hearing aid functionality
To put it simply, learn your hearing aid’s functions. It likely has unique features that drastically enhance the hearing experience in different environments like restaurants, theaters, or walking down the street.
Your wireless devices, including smartphones and televisions can most likely connect wirelessly to your hearing aids. Additionally, it might have a special setting that helps you hear on the phone.
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 rudimentary way. Hearing aids nowadays can do more than make the sound louder.
To get the clearest and best sound quality, take some time to practice wearing the hearing aid in different settings. Check out how well you hear by getting a friend or family member to assist you.
Like anything new, it will get easier after a little practice. Simply turning the volume up and down won’t even come close to providing 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 owner to think that their hearing will be optimal from the first day. This is an incorrect assumption. Some say it takes a month or more before they are completely comfortable with their hearing aid. But don’t get frustrated. They also say it’s really worth it.
After you get home, give yourself a couple of days to become accustomed to the new experience. It’s like breaking in a new pair of shoes. Usually, you will need to go slow and wear your new hearing aids a little at a time.
Start in a quiet setting with a friend where you are just talking. Simple voices might sound different at first, and this can be disorienting. Ask about your own voice volume and make corrections.
Slowly begin to go to new places and use the hearing aid for longer periods of time.
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 exam
In order to be sure you get the correct hearing aid technology, it’s important to answer any questions we may ask truthfully.
If you have your hearing aid and realize that perhaps you weren’t as honest as you may have been, go back and get 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 level and kind of hearing loss you have.
For instance, certain hearing aids are better for people with hearing loss in the high-frequency range. Others are better for people with mid-frequency hearing loss and so on.
4. Neglecting to have your hearing aid fitted
Your hearing aids need to manage several requirements at the same time: they need to be comfortable on or in your ears, they need to be simple to put in and remove, and they need to amplify the sounds around you efficiently. Your hearing aid fitting is meant to correctly calibrate all three of those variables for your personal needs.
When you’re getting fitted, you may:
- Have your hearing tested to identify the power level of your hearing aid.
- Have your ears precisely 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 big rooms, make a note of that. If your right ear seems tighter than your left, note that. Even note if everything feels great. With this information, we can personalize the settings of your hearing aid so it functions at peak effectiveness and comfort.
6. Not planning how you will utilize your hearing aid in advance
Water-resistant hearing aids do exist. However, water can seriously damage others. Maybe you enjoy certain activities and you are willing to pay extra for more advanced features.
We can give you some recommendations but you must choose for yourself. Only you know which advanced features you’ll actually use and that’s worth committing to because if the hearing aids don’t work with your lifestyle you won’t use them.
You’ll be wearing your hearing aid for a long time. So if you really need certain features, you shouldn’t settle for less.
A few more things to contemplate
- To be completely satisfied, discuss these preferences before your fitting.
- Maybe you want a high degree of automation. Or maybe you like having more control over the volume. Is a longer battery life essential to you?
- You might care about whether your hearing aid is able to be seen. Or, you may want to make a bold statement.
Many issues that arise with regards to fit, lifestyle, and how you use your hearing aids can be resolved through the fitting process. Also, you may be able to try out your hearing aids before you commit to a purchase. During this test period, you’ll be able to get a sense of whether a specific brand of hearing aid would be right for you.
7. Failing to take proper care of your hearing aid
Moisture is a real challenge for most hearing aids. You might want to invest in a dehumidifier if you live in an overly humid place. 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 certain to clean your hands. Oils found naturally on your hand can effect how well the hearing aid functions and the life of the batteries.
Don’t let earwax or skin cells accumulate on the hearing aid. 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. All of a sudden, when you’re watching your favorite show, your batteries die just as you’re about to find out “who done it”.
Like most electronic devices, battery life fluctuates depending on how you use it and the outside environment. So even if you just replaced your batteries, keep a spare set with you. Don’t miss something special because of an unpredictable battery.
9. Neglecting your hearing exercises
When you first get your hearing aids, there might be an assumption, and it’s not necessarily 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 impacted by hearing loss not just your ears.
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, particularly if the hearing loss was somewhat recent. But other people will need a more structured strategy to rebuild their ability to hear. The following are a couple of prevalent strategies.
Reading out loud
One of the most efficient ways you can restore those connections between your ears and your brain is to spend some time reading out loud. Even if you feel a bit strange at first you should still practice like this. You’re practicing reconnecting the experience of saying words with the sounds they make. The more you create those connections, the better your hearing (and your hearing aid) will work.
Audiobooks
If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of reading something out loud personally, then you can always go the audiobook route. You can purchase (or rent from the library) a physical copy of a book and the audiobook version together. Then, you read along with the book as 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 region of your brain get used to hearing (and making sense of) speech again.
Call Today to Set Up an Appointment
Resources
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10900/