Hi, I’m Dr. Egan from Now Hear This, and today I’m going to talk to you about the keys to being a successful hearing aid user.
The number one most important thing when getting hearing aids and becoming a successful hearing aid user is to make sure they are programmed correctly. The best practice for programming hearing aids is called Real-Ear Measurement, where a tiny microphone is placed in your ear to measure exactly what the hearing aid is doing. When an audiologist performs Real-Ear Measurements, they ensure the hearing aid is delivering precisely the right amount of sound at each pitch in your hearing spectrum.
The second key to being a successful hearing aid user is to be patient. Getting back all those sounds you were missing can be overwhelming at first. Your audiologist should work with you step by step to start at a comfortable level where you notice new sounds, but they aren’t too overwhelming.
From there, it’s really important to be patient and remind yourself that it will get better. Since your brain hasn’t been used to hearing certain sounds for years, things like rustling fabric, crinkling paper, or clicking a pen can feel very noticeable at first. But each time you hear those sounds, just remind yourself, “It’s going to get better. The more I hear these sounds, the more my brain will adjust.” As your brain gets reacquainted with sounds, it will become more natural and easier to process.
A lot of times, I tell patients that getting hearing aids is like getting braces. It’s not like getting glasses, where you put them on and instantly see clearly. Hearing aids require a period of adjustment and fine-tuning. Each time I see you, we’ll tweak the settings to help your brain gradually acclimate to the sounds it was missing. Just as we have to be patient for our teeth to straighten with braces, we need to be patient as our brain adapts to hearing aids.
That brings us to the third key. In addition to Real-Ear Measurement and patience, it’s crucial to wear your hearing aids all the time. Ideally, I tell my patients to wear them at least 12 hours a day. The more you wear them, the more time your brain has to get reacquainted with missing sounds.
We find that patients who wear their hearing aids consistently adjust much faster and get greater benefits. On the other hand, if someone only wears their hearing aids occasionally, like just when going to a restaurant, their brain gets overloaded with all the new sounds—clinking utensils, pots and pans, pouring water, and background chatter. But when you wear your hearing aids all day long, your brain gradually adjusts to everyday sounds, such as the hum of the fridge or dishes in the sink, making noisy environments like restaurants much less overwhelming.
So, those are the three keys to being a successful hearing aid user:
1. Make sure they are programmed with Real-Ear Measurement.
2. Be patient with the adjustment process.
3. Wear your hearing aids all day long.
When my patients follow these three steps, not a single person calls it quits. They find it rewarding to have the sounds of life back and truly enjoy their hearing aids every day.
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