How to Help a Family Member Adjust to New Hearing Aids

Fall along the Chattahoochee comes with plenty of small sounds, whether you spend afternoons on West Point Lake or walking the riverfront in Columbus. You hear water against the bank, geese overhead and leaves blowing across the path.

You probably tune all of that out without a second thought. For someone wearing new hearing aids, each of those sounds can show up sharp and close for the first time in years.

That can be a lot to take in at once. Your family member might seem distracted, a little irritable or ready to take the hearing aids out by lunchtime. Their brain is still learning which sounds deserve attention and which ones it can let fade into the background.

The way your family reacts during those first few weeks can make wearing them feel easier or a lot harder.

What the First Few Weeks With Hearing Aids Really Feel Like

The first few days with hearing aids are usually full of little surprises. You might suddenly hear the refrigerator running, your shoes against the floor or the sound of turning a page. None of those noises are new, but they may feel new because you have not heard them this clearly in a while.

Some sounds settle down quickly, while others take longer to stop grabbing your attention. Voices may also sound different at first, especially your own. That does not automatically mean something is wrong with the hearing aids.

The big thing is whether listening starts to feel more normal the longer you wear them. If some sounds keep making you flinch or voices still don’t sound right after a few weeks, let your hearing specialist know.

Adjustment takes practice, but you should not have to simply put up with sound that never feels right.

The Emotional Side of Wearing Hearing Aids

There is often more emotion wrapped up in hearing aids than people expect. Your loved one might be excited to hear more clearly and still feel frustrated by how different everything sounds. Those two reactions can exist at the same time.

Some people also feel self-conscious about wearing the devices in front of friends or family. They might wonder who will notice or whether someone will make a comment. Treating the hearing aids like any other part of getting ready helps take some of that pressure away.

Try not to make every conversation about how the hearing aids are going. If your loved one wants to talk about what feels strange, listen. Otherwise, let them get on with their day without turning the devices into the main topic.

Small Ways to Make Conversations Easier at Home

When you want to help, it’s natural to just talk louder, but that doesn’t always work. A few small changes can make you easier to understand without making your family member feel like the center of attention.

Try these at home:

• Make sure they know you’re talking to them before you start.
• Talk to them face to face instead of calling from another room.
• If saying it again doesn’t work, try different words.
• Turn the TV down when you need to talk about something important.
• Use your normal voice instead of yelling or stretching out every word.

Making Noisy Rooms Easier to Listen In

Some homes are simply harder to hear in than others. Open floor plans, tile, hardwood and bare walls let sound bounce around instead of fading quickly. That extra echo makes voices blend together, especially when several people are talking.

You do not need to completely redesign the room. Rugs, curtains and upholstered furniture absorb some of that reflected sound and soften the space. Even moving a conversation away from a television or noisy kitchen helps.

Think about where conversations usually happen in your house. If one room always feels harder to hear in, the room itself may be part of the problem. A few changes to the space can make listening noticeably easier without changing anything on the hearing aids.

Making Hearing Aids Part of the Day

The best routine is one you barely have to think about. Put the hearing aids in around the same time each morning and keep the charger or case in one spot. At night, take care of them right before or after you brush your teeth.

Try not to turn into the hearing aid police. If your dad forgets them on the nightstand, a quick “hey, got your ears in?” is fine. Asking him every hour is going to wear on both of you. People stick with a routine a lot longer when it feels like their own.

Wearing them all day is where you want to end up, but there’s no need for a strict schedule. If the sounds feel tiring at first, start with shorter stretches and add more time as it gets easier.

Keeping Hearing Aid Care Simple at Home

New hearing aids come with a few care steps, but the routine should not feel complicated. It often helps to learn it together at first, especially if your spouse or another family member is already involved.

That way, you both know what belongs in the charger, what needs cleaning and what should never get wet. A basic evening routine might include:

• Check the outside of the hearing aids for wax, oils or debris.
• Look over the wax guards and replace them when they appear blocked.
• Charge the devices or check disposable batteries for the next day.
• Place everything in the usual storage spot overnight.

Getting Back Into Social Plans Without Overdoing It

You do not have to test new hearing aids at the loudest event on your calendar right away. A quieter lunch, a walk with a friend or dinner with a few people gives you room to get used to conversation without so much competing sound.

As those situations get easier, move into busier places gradually. A restaurant during a slower hour usually feels very different from the same place on a packed Friday night. That gives you a chance to learn how the hearing aids behave before the room gets more demanding.

Family members can help by keeping you in the conversation instead of speaking for you. The point is to keep doing the things you enjoy without making every outing feel like a hearing test.

Noticing the Little Things That Get Easier

You’ll usually spot progress in day-to-day moments, not by thinking about the hearing aids. Maybe you hear the microwave beep from the next room, catch a joke you’d have missed or ask for fewer repeats at dinner.

You don’t have to keep a journal about it unless you want to. A mental note is usually enough. Some things will get easier sooner than others, and that’s normal.

Family usually picks up on these changes first. If your mom is jumping into conversations more or the TV is finally back to a normal volume, tell her. Keep it casual, though, because nobody wants a big celebration every time they hear the doorbell.

Use Follow-Up Visits to Fine-Tune What Is Not Working

Follow-up appointments are where real-life experience starts shaping the fitting. Your hearing specialist already knows what the devices were programmed to do in the office. What they need from you is what happened once you wore them at home, at work and out with other people.

When you go back in, “it just sounds weird” doesn’t give your hearing specialist much to go on. Tell them what actually happened. Did the silverware make you wince at dinner? Were restaurants still hard to follow? Did your left ear start hurting around 3 o’clock? Those are the things they can actually work on.

A family member can come along if you want the extra set of ears. They might have noticed changes in conversation that you did not. Between your experience and theirs, your hearing specialist gets a much clearer sense of what needs tweaking.

Supporting Your Family Member With New Hearing Aids

Helping someone settle into new hearing aids takes some patience on both sides. Keep conversations simple at first, give them a break when they need one and let them tell you what feels off. A lot of what bothers them early on can be adjusted, so those details are useful to pass along.

At Belcher Hearing Aid Service, we work with families in Columbus and LaGrange, Georgia, to fine-tune hearing aids during that first stretch. You’re welcome to come along to appointments and ask questions of your own.

Before long, a fall afternoon by the river can feel peaceful again instead of overwhelming. Call our Columbus office at (706) 405-4655 or our LaGrange office at (706) 407-4003 to schedule a visit.