How long will it take me to adjust to hearing aids?

How long will it take me to adjust to hearing aids?

A common situation we see in the clinic is this: a new client who has never had hearing aids before comes in, very excited to pick up his new pair of hearing aids.  Maybe he is a little apprehensive, but overall he is feeling positively about the hearing aids.  We fit him, test the output of the hearing aids to make sure he’s hearing all the frequencies at the correct level, and counsel him regarding realistic expectations.  We go through all the information about how to put the hearing aids in, how to change or charge the batteries, and we schedule a follow up appointment for 1-2 weeks for adjustments and to check in.  1-2 weeks later, patient comes back in and has noticed improvement, but complains that “everything sounds funny”.    What to do?

This happens quite a bit, because the brain does not instantly adapt to hearing aids the way it often does to glasses.  Personally, every time I get new glasses, I put them on and think, “WOW!  That is AMAZING!  I haven’t seen this clearly in years!” and I go on my merry way and don’t think anything about it until 2 years later when I go get another pair and the same thing happens again.  I think hearing aid wearers hope that their transition into new hearing aids will be equally as smooth, but that’s not how the brain works.  It takes 3-4 weeks of solid wearing time on the patient’s part for him/her to start acclimating to the hearing aids.

Think of it this way: how long have you had hearing loss?  The average person waits almost 7 years with hearing loss before doing something about it.  Yes, SEVEN.  That is a very long time that your brain is receiving reduced and incorrect signals from your ears!  We cannot reverse or fix 7 years of incorrect information processing in a day, it’s simply not possible.  It takes time and PRACTICE listening for your brain to get used to the hearing aids.

I used to always ask my patients whether or not they were truly ready to commit to me and the hearing aids before they purchased them.  Some said “YES!  HELP ME!  HELP ME NOW!” and were gung-ho.  Others said yes, they’d give it the old college try.  Still others said “No, I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”  In the case of the first two types of people, we’d go ahead with the fitting.  In the case of the third group, I’d tell them to wait.

What do I mean by commitment?  I mean the type of commitment to hearing aids where you will put them in every morning and wear them for at least 5-8 hours without taking a break.  That means leaving them in when you go to bridge or the doctor’s office or out for lunch in a noisy restaurant with friends.  I do recommend that you start in quiet environments first, though, while you’re brand new to the hearing aids.  Wear them at home and while you’re doing chores around the house.  It takes time for your brain to put together what all the sounds mean; it needs to hear everything several times before it starts to make connections that one sound means the automatic ice maker is dropping ice into your freeze, while another means that you need a new battery in your smoke detector.  You will quickly master your listening at home and you will be ready for more challenging listening environments.  Practice makes perfect, though…and the hearing aids won’t fully work for you until YOU work for THEM.  One very frustrating thing for we as audiologists/hearing health care professionals is when patients come in and have their hearing aids in the case and say, “Well, I wore them at church on Sundays and they didn’t help at all.”  Really?  You wore them for 1-2 hours on one day of the week in a challenging listening environment and they didn’t help you?  Gee, I’m shocked.  That’s a case where practicing at home and getting used to the way things sound is really quite helpful and makes for a much more successful wearer in the long run.

Getting hearing aids isn’t always the most pleasant thing right away…if you’ve had hearing loss, you’ve been living in a quiet world…and the real world is a very noisy place!  By faithfully wearing new hearing aids all day everyday the first month, you will acclimate to your surrounding and start the process of retraining your brain to truly listen…once that happens, your understanding will improve and you will learn to maximize what the hearing aids can do for you!

My parting words of advice are here: don’t give up on the hearing aids.  Work with your hearing healthcare professional to get them adjusted to the best settings for you.  Be patient with yourself and don’t expect that you will be able to hear a pin drop at 50 yards or to decipher a conversation occurring a room away.  Hearing aids are just that: aids to help you hear better.  They cannot replace the hearing you had as a child or make it perfect, but they sure can improve the quality of your life and make it able for you to communicate with your friends and family.

Kristin A. Slifer, Au.D.