With hearing aids, there is an adjustment period. The sooner a person realizes this and takes steps to help with the process, the better. 

Wear the Device

Wear your hearing aid as often as you can. A part of the adjustment process is reeducating your body on how to react to sound. At any given moment, there are a variety of sounds taking form around you. However, someone of them you need to focus on, and others you can tune out. 

The more you wear the hearing aid, the more you reeducate your brain on how to filter sounds. If you only wear your hearing air routinely, the adjustment process will be longer, and you'll likely find that it takes you longer to reach a point where you feel the device is comfortable. 

Ease Into Things

A crowded family event, sporting match, or amusement park are just some of the places you might want to avoid as you adjust to your new device. For people who have dealt with long term hearing loss, the ability to hear sounds is sometimes overwhelming, and given the intensity of noise surrounding these types of events, it can feel uncomfortable. 

Adjusting to the sounds around your home and your family is a great place to begin, as you become more comfortable with these noises, you'll know that you're able to take on more. Reading to yourself is another great way to adjust to hearing more. 

Don't Be Hard on Yourself

If you feel like it is taking you a while to get used to the way your hearing aid feels, you're not alone. It will take you a while to adjust. In the same respect that you had to adjust to not being able to hear as well as you did in the past, you will also have to adjust to your sudden ability to hear again. 

In an effort not to be too hard on yourself, don't be afraid to adjust the volume on your device if you feel uncomfortable, as you wear your device more you will start to feel more comfortable hearing sounds at varying levels, but if you don't at first, that's okay. At the same time, if you think you need to take the device out periodically to give yourself some time to relax, that's okay too. 

Most importantly, if you have any concerns with the way you are adjusting to your new hearing aid, make sure you speak up and ask questions. Contact a doctor, like Mark Montgomery MD FACS, for more help.

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