What to Expect After the Hearing Aid Fitting

Getting new hearing aids is an exciting and wonderful experience. You get to hear the world around you in ways you had completely forgotten about. Those silent hums, the distant giggle and the gentle rustle of a leaf, you begin to really perceive the world the way it is again. Although the experience might be a little bit intimidating in the beginning, rest assured that once you get used to your new hearing aids, your level of satisfaction and happiness will definitely go up.

Your hearing aid fitting

A hearing aid fitting appointment with your audiologist will usually last one to two hours. During this session, they will conduct several tests with you to check if your hearing aids fit comfortably in your ear and make sure that the sound entering your ears is the appropriate level for you. Since each person hears in a different way, your audiologist will adjust the hearing aids to meet your particular needs. Of course, your input and approval will be required every step of the way.

Learn the advanced features

Even though the internet is full of information and you might have a couple of friends or family members that know a bit about hearing aids, but learning about your specific model directly from your hearing care professional will prove to be very helpful. Make sure you learn about the advanced features that come with your model of hearing aids, such as how to adjust the amplification when you enter different surroundings or what is the easiest way to sync your hearing aids with ALDs and other electronic appliances at home.

Ask about care and maintenance

Perhaps the only thing that is sure to prolong the life of your hearing aids and enhance their performance is proper care and maintenance. During your first fitting, your audiologist should be telling you about all the parts of your hearing aids, how to clean them, and how to troubleshoot common problems that pop up from time to time. Make sure to get cleaning tools for your hearing aids from your audiologist and pay special attention when they teach you everything about batteries.

Schedule a follow-up

Even if you feel everything went great and your hearing aid fitting was successful, there might still be several problems can come up in the following few days. For example, a tiny glitch in the shape of the earmold could cause a sore or tenderness on your outer ear. In any such case of emergency or discomfort, the best course of action would be to see your audiologist. If you are a first-time hearing aid user and this was your first visit, it is particularly important to make sure you keep seeing your audiologist for follow-up visits to discuss your progress with getting accustomed to your new hearing aids.