Getting Used to a New World of Sound.

If you’re a seasoned hearing aid wearer, you may already understand that it can take some time to adjust to your new “World of Sound.” After years of gradual hearing decline, many new hearing aid wearers are truly surprised by the volume of their environment, including the volume of what they previously perceived to be soft ‘sounds’ such as footsteps, the burr of the washing machine, or the sounds of birds ‘in the distance.’

After years of not hearing the sounds in your environment correctly, in essence your brain has to learn a ‘new normal.’ Of course this doesn’t happen overnight, and that’s why the real key to successful hearing aid usage is wearing your devices every day, for minimum period of 3-4 hours. It is through time that your brain learns to adapt to the correct volume of sounds, and through time that you will begin to feel more comfortable with your hearing aids.

Immediate benefits

Despite the period of adjustments ahead of you, there is no doubt that you should notice an instant and impressive improvement in your ability to hear soft sounds.

Common immeditate benefits include noticing sounds you have not heard in a long time, such as the car indicator, cutlery and kitchen noises that are higher pitch, such as the whistle of your kettle, and crisper, cleaner environmental sounds from around your house. You may also be able to turn your TV volume down and now feel your toilet flushing is like standing next to Niagara Falls!

These are common experiences all new hearing aid wearers have, and with time, these sounds should settle down. In the mean time, you can always reduce the volume of your hearing aids slightly, and give your brain time to adapt.

Inform your family

A beneficial task to take on is to become an active learner about hearing loss and hearing aids, and to also help your family and friends understand what to expect when they are trying to communicate with you.

Many family and friends expect your new devices to operate like glasses can, and instantly fix your hearing. This is not realistic, and your family will still need to focus on using tactics to improve communication both ways, such as not talking to you from another room, and gaining your attention and eye contact first before speaking to you.