What to Expect When You Purchase a Hearing Aid

2020-11-20

If you’re suffering from hearing loss, it may be time to see an audiologist and possibly purchase a hearing aid. Having to wear a hearing aid can be the cause of some anxiety for many people. It brings on a lot of emotions such as anticipation and stress. If you are considering purchasing a hearing aid or need to update your current one, you need to understand what to expect. This will be a new piece of technology for you and you need to understand what it does and how to take care of it. Thus, it is important to have a realistic idea of what to expect when you receive a new hearing aid.

What should you expect?
So, what should you expect when you’re purchasing a hearing aid for the first time? Well, first, you won’t be expected to go at it alone. Your audiologist will be there to help guide you through the process. Your audiologist will go over the basics and check the way the hearing aid fits. They will also help you determine what settings are best and will program the hearing aid to work for you. Your audiologist can also show you how to make adjustments on your own too (so you can change settings at your leisure).

You’ll learn how to maintain the hearing aid as well. This includes basic maintenance like cleaning, as well as taking care of the batteries.

Hearing aid basics

Once you’ve purchased your hearing aid, you may be wondering how long it will take to get used to your new device. Be prepared, it may take up to a month before you are used to your new hearing. Of course, it all depends on you and your personality too. Every patient is different and experiences improve hearing in different ways. Sounds will be strange to you, the way you hear things will be completely different. While all these changes take some time to get used to, the human brain is very adaptable.

In general, your new hearing aid will improve your hearing to an extent where you are more aware of the noises in your normal life. It will seem to be noisier than usual and that can be distracting. You may even feel that some of these sounds are intrusive but you’ll learn how to filter out the background noise with time. It also means that you have to learn how to focus your hearing again. You want to hear some things and not everything. Thus, getting used to the new settings on your hearing aids will take some time and practice.

You may also be wondering if this will completely fix your hearing. There isn’t a simple answer to this question. While the amount of hearing a hearing aid restores varies from person to person, what you should know is that your new hearing aid will make you hear sounds you could not hear before. Does that mean you’ll hear perfectly? It is entirely possible.