What to expect at your hearing aid fitting?

Hearing aids don’t just improve hearing, they help you stay connected to friends and loved ones and are important for maintaining good physical and mental wellbeing.

If you have recently seen a licensed hearing care professional to test your hearing and been considered a good candidate for hearing aids, then you might be wondering what to expect from the fitting process.

Your audiologist or licensed hearing care professional will have worked with you to identify your specific hearing needs and lifestyle. They will also have provided their expert advice on helping you choose the best hearing aid. Once they have all the required information, they will create a list of hearing aids best for you. The hearing aid fitting process starts once you’ve chosen your hearing aid.

A hearing aid fitting appointment usually takes around one hour – this gives your audiologist time to ensure your new hearing aid fits you comfortably. This includes the actual physical fitting of the hearing aid in your ears along with how the hearing aid sounds for you. The audiologist will demonstrate the different controls on your hearing aids, how to keep them clean and how to change the batteries. They will also show you how to put your hearing aid in, take it out and how you can use it with a telephone.

Your hearing care professional will use the results of your hearing test evaluation to program your hearing aids. They will then use Real Ear Measures to check the hearing aids provide you with the correct amount of amplification. Real Ear Measures enable your audiologist to know how loud sounds are in the ear canal. They will insert a thin tube into the ear canal and connect this to a microphone that measures the level of the sound by your eardrum, then your hearing aid will be put in into your ear. Your audiologist will measure the level of sound your hearing aid outputs, to ensure that your hearing aids are programmed correctly.

It’s important that you are honest with your audiologist and tell them if there is anything you don’t like about your new hearing aid. The hearing aids might just need a few adjustments or you may need to give yourself a little time to get used to the new sounds you hear. When you first wear your hearing aid, you may notice:

• Your voice sounds strange – remember your ear is now blocked with an earpiece and as you get used to your new hearing aid, this effect will eventually fade
• Things sound tinny, because your hearing aid amplifies high-pitched sounds and will help you to improve the clarity of speech
• Background sounds are now louder, but you will gradually get used to this and become less aware of them.

While your new hearing aid won’t necessarily give you perfect hearing, it can make your life much easier and happier. It’s normal for new hearing-aid wearers to need some time to get used to wearing them and it can take your brain a couple of months to retune itself to the new sounds you can now hear. While it may feel strange and a little overwhelming at first, this is perfectly normal. It's a good idea to spend a little time every day getting used to the new sounds. Your brain won’t be used to processing sound, so restoring this hearing process can take a little time, and wearing your hearing aid every day will help to speed this up.

• Start by wearing your hearing aids at home, before slowly exposing yourself to new sounds
• Listen to radio shows or audiobooks and see if you can understand speech clearly
• When you start to wear your hearing aid outside, focus on listening to nature then go for a walk
• Don’t feel discouraged if you find background noise overwhelming at first
• Slowly increase the amount of time you spend wearing your hearing aid
• Practice locating sounds with your eyes closed.

While hearing aids cannot fully restore your hearing, they have the ability to significantly improve your hearing and boost your quality of life. Your hearing aid fitting is an important step in enabling you to enjoy the world of sound around you again.