Congratulations on your new hearing aids! We’re so excited for this new step in your hearing journey, and we know that you’ll soon be enjoying the innumerable benefits that hearing aids afford. New hearing devices do require a bit of an adjustment period, so here’s what you can expect in the coming days.
Why Hearing Aids Need an Adjustment Period
When your hearing loss was untreated, the auditory processing center of your brain essentially got out of shape, just like any muscle. Your new hearing aids are going to be like the first trip to the gym in a few years; your muscles are going to be sore, and you’re going to feel fatigued.
What You May Experience
It’s important to keep in mind that hearing aids are going to bring a deluge of new sound information into the brain. As a result, you may experience some of the following side effects as your brain gets back into shape:
- Overstimulation. Birds singing, cars passing by, your own footsteps, people chatting…your brain will take in all of this, and until it relearns how to prioritize sounds, it will treat them all with equal importance. This may feel overwhelming at first.
- Loud background noise. Again, the brain is relearning what to prioritize. Until it does, it won’t be able to determine what is background noise and what isn’t, so you’ll be more aware of background noises than you were previously.
- High-pitched sounds seem “tinny.” High-pitched sounds are often the first sounds you lose with hearing loss, particularly with sensorineural hearing loss. As you are reintroduced to these sounds, they may seem unfamiliar at first. Many people describe it as “tinny,” “echoey” or “metallic.” Don’t worry; you’ll adjust!
- Fatigue. Mental energy is not an infinite resource. As your brain works harder to process sound information, it will get fatigued, and you’ll feel exhausted at the end of the day, especially if it was a heavy listening day.
- Distracted by having something in your ears. It’s different to have something inside your ears all the time, and for the first few days, you may be hyper-aware of your hearing aids’ presence in your ears. You may feel like your ears are itchy or warm, but that’s mostly due to your heightened perception of them.
How Long Does the Adjustment Period Last?
It will be a while before your hearing aids feel well and truly “normal,” but the exact length of time it will take to get there will depend on a variety of factors, including how long you waited before getting treatment and how often you wear your hearing aids to start with.
The first few days will be the most shocking and overwhelming for the brain; those days will feel the hardest. Be gentle with yourself, take lots of breaks; your brain will adjust with time.
Many people begin to feel more familiar with their new devices around the one or two-week mark (this is dependent on how often you’re wearing them during the adjustment period), and first-time hearing aid users usually feel fully accustomed to their devices around four weeks.
How to Make the Adjustment Period Smoother
The adjustment period can feel daunting, but here are some strategies you can use to ease this period or make it go faster:
- Wear your hearing aids as much as you can. The longer you wear them, the faster your brain will adjust. Challenge yourself to wear them for longer every day.
- Wear them at home to start. Start off wearing them in the comfort of your own home, with sounds that you’re familiar with and can anticipate, and hold off on doing any listening-intensive activities for a couple of days.
- Talk to yourself. Put sound into your environment and get used to the sound of your own voice again. Narrate your actions to yourself, talk to your pet or read out loud to give your auditory processing center some extra information to work with.
- Be patient with yourself. Overstimulation and fatigue can easily lead to irritation, frustration and impatience. You may find yourself feeling irked by background noise that wouldn’t bother you otherwise, or snappish in dynamic listening situations, like the grocery store. Acknowledge these feelings, remind yourself they’re coming from an overworked, exhausted brain and give yourself grace.
The first few days are tough, but worth it. As your hearing team, we at Raleigh Capitol Ear, Nose, Throat & Allergy are here to help you through this adjustment period so you can fully enjoy the benefits of hearing aids. If you have any questions or concerns about your hearing aids during the adjustment process, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.