If you have hearing problems, hearing aids may be just what you need to improve this important sense. Using them for the first time can take some adjusting, but you can set yourself up for success by remembering these tips.
Be Patient
Hearing aids won't drastically improve your hearing overnight. They have more of an adjustment period, and it's important to remember this so that you don't get discouraged. It's not like correcting vision with glasses where you instantly see better.
It may take you several months to get accustomed to using aids to hear sounds you're familiar with. Be patient and know that it's a process. After a while, you'll pick up on sounds that you normally couldn't hear without aids. Also, you'll get used to having these devices in your ears all throughout the day. Later on, you won't even be able to notice them in your ears that much.
Document Irritating Sounds
What a lot of people find when using hearing aids for the first time is experiencing a lot of irritating sounds. For example, the ticking of a clock may be too much. If you're finding this to be the case, you should make a note of any irritating sounds.
Get a journal and list out sounds that are really causing you irritation throughout the day. Then, after several weeks, you can show these findings to your hearing aid specialist. They may need to do some tweaks to your hearing devices so that you can hear optimally again.
Sync Aids With Other Devices
Hearing aids have come a long way in the last several years or so. Now, many of them can actually connect to other devices. This is what's known as telecoil technology. It can really benefit you in terms of hearing.
For instance, when someone calls your phone, you can sync up your hearing aids with this device. This way, you'll hear voices through your hearing aids so that there isn't any confusion on what's being said. Or, you may want to sync your hearing aids up with a computer when watching a movie. You can use technology to your advantage even with hearing loss.
Not being able to hear clearly like you once could can be startling, but that's why hearing aids exist. If you're getting some and aren't familiar with their technology, make sure you know what protocol to follow in the beginning. Then, you can circumvent a lot of issues.