Hearing Aid - Importance Of Fit

Family and friends should be aware that a lot of patience is required on the part of the wearer, as well as family and friends, when someone is first using hearing aids. The technician should take the time to make sure you get the best fit possible. When obtaining hearing aids for the first time, a lot of patience is on the part of the new wearer, his family and friends. The professional who is fitting the new hearing aid patient also needs to bring a lot of patience to the table. The simplest aspect of having a hearing aid is being properly educated in its upkeep and oversight, while the hardest aspect of it is actually listening with it.

To fully adapt to the use of hearing aids, the normal brain takes between six and eight weeks. However, it is not uncommon for the adjustment period to extend longer, perhaps as much as three to six months in some individuals. The age of the person has a lot to do with how easily they will become used to using their new hearing aid. This adaptation phase will last from three to six months, all of which is contingent upon an individual's age and brain condition. In general, the older the patient, the more time it will take to grow accustomed to hearing aids.

People who suffer from severe hearing loss do not recognize that their own voice should be audible to them when they are speaking. People with severe hearing loss do not realise that they should be hearing their own voice when they speak. So when someone hears themselves speak for the first time in a long time, it can be very confusing for them.

The person may ask you if they are shouting because their own voices can sound very loud to them at first. Also some what disorienting for new users can be the range of environmental sounds that the hearing aids will pickup that they are not used to hearing. Frequently when a patient is new to hearing aid use she will find that her voice sounds much louder than she expects. She may ask the person she speaks to if she seems to be shouting to him. New users with severe hearing loss may be surprised at the background noises and environmental sounds that they will be able to hear again. These sounds can be upsetting until the brain determines what they are makes the decision on whether to ignore or focus on them.

Your brain will be working harder as it now has the added task of identifying more sounds, figuring out if it is important or not and electing to ignore or acknowledge the sounds, including learning what is speech and what is just background. Friends and family need to remember to tone their voices down for a person with a new hearing aid as a loud voice can be painful for them. The brain itself will suddenly become more active as it sifts through all of the new sounds and noises and adds meaning to them. As it does this, it also has to learn to pick up speech from among the new sounds. Shouting is excruciating to a hearing aid user, so friends and family should keep in mind that a raised voice is no longer necessary. Patience is required as the new hearing aid user adjusts to being able to hear again, and makes decisions of what he likes and doesn't like about it.

In some cases a hearing aid will be unable to help someone hear any better despite the fact that most people find them helpful.

There are many factors that can affect how well the patient adapts to the hearing aid. The age and attitude of the wearer is one important consideration, as is the degree of the hearing loss, the length of time that the patient's auditory nerve has gone without stimulation, and the ease with which a person can interpret what they hear.

Wearers should always remember that the hearing aids are not perfect and will not always work perfectly or be able to solve all of your problems, but they should give you a better standard of living by allowing you to hear things that you couldn't before.

As with all electronics, properly maintaining and caring for the hearing aid will allow it to function optimally. Hearing aids will need some maintenance to make sure they work properly, especially during hot and humid times which can affect the hearing aids performance more. Earwax and moisture are hearing aids' most dangerous enemies. Daily cleaning is necessary to enable the sound to channel through to your ear. A hearing aid can produce distorted sound, or no sound all if even a little ear wax is present. During the summer, humidity and heat can have an impact on a hearing aid, and they will require a certain extent of looking after in order to stay in good shape. Like heat and humidity can be bad for hearing aids, the worst are earwax and moisture. The hearing aid must be kept clean in order to channel sound properly. Earwax can cause the hearing aid to run low, or die as well as distort the sound quality for the user.

If you allow earwax to get into the inside where everything works, it can cost a lot to fix it. Summer isn't the only time of year something like this can happen. Ear wax making its way into the inner workings of a hearing aid can cause a costly repair. This sort of problem can occur year round. You should always be sure to store your hearing aid in a cool dry location, and not in the bathroom.

Wipe the hearing aid several times daily, if you have prepared wipes especially for hearing aids. Leaving the battery door of your hearing aid open while you're not wearing it will allow it to air out and prolong the life of the battery. Lastly, be sure to have your hearing aids cleaned and generally checked twice a year to make sure there are no problems with them and to keep them operating at their very best. When you are not using your hearing aids you should open the battery compartment so that air can circulate through your hearing aids and your batteries will last longer. Lastly, clean out your hearing aid and take a look at it twice annually in order to avoid any future issues; this will guarantee that the hearing aid's condition is kept in prime condition.