Is your Loved One Adapting to New Hearing Device? Here’s How You Can Help!

1. Is your Loved One Adapting to New Hearing Device? Here’s How You Can Help!

2. No point in debating; the first experience with a hearing device is certainly challenging. It requires patience and time. While an individual is adapting to hearing aids, your kindness and support as a loved one can help them along the journey.

3. Though advanced hearing aids are designed to be easy to use and adapt to quickly, for the user it still remains a major step in life.

4. Some statistics show that many first-time wearers call it a day before getting through the break-in period. In fact, the same data indicates how use of a hearing device can prevent isolation, depression and anxiety linked with long-term, untreated hearing loss.

5. So, as a caregiver you should have a strong sense of responsibility to help your loved one adapt to this change in lifestyle.

6. Acceptance is the First Step to Better Hearing To start, it is essential for both the parties – the caregiver and the hearing impaired to accept the situation. Sooner the acceptance, faster the person adapts to new sounds. Additionally, success with a hearing device majorly depends on the wearer’s willingness to accept this big change in their life.

7. For family members, acceptance is not just limited to lip service. Take the time to learn more about hearing loss and be empathetic. Most importantly, speak clearly and at a normal pace.

8. Someone who is still in their denial period may not be psychologically ready or have a will to adapt to changes, thus they may feel low using their hearing aids. As a family member, you need to be ready to support them through this process and encourage them to adopt this new lifestyle.

9. Set Expectations Someone who has never worn a hearing device before might find it difficult to get used to it before hoping for a complete restoration of natural hearing. This is because the first time when a hearing aid is used in a real-world environment, it may feel disillusioned and the wearer might feel overwhelmed with every noise in a room, such as the hum of the air conditioning or clock ticking, because they haven’t heard them in a while.

10. At this time, everything seems heightened and the brain too needs to relearn and focus on the sound that matters the most i.e. speech. The concerned hearing care professional sets the device to hear every sound properly and the wearer just needs to adjust the sound as per the environment.

11. Don’t Let them Ever Miss Appointments Missing the scheduled appointments with your hearing care professional is a big no-no. Sharing concerns and keeping the dialogue box open with the audiologist can be valuable as they fine tune the device to match the wearer’s profile.

12. The better the conversation with the experts, the better the hearing experience. So, make sure your loved one never misses their hearing appointments.

13. To sum up Encourage your loved one to use their device regularly and properly. As they get used to hearing day-to-day sounds and human speech, things will become more normal to them. Just don’t pester them with questions about what they can hear, be patient until things get better and help them stay focused on the long-term goal which is getting back to an active lifestyle through better hearing.

14. Contact Us Hearing Aid Specialists SA • Address: 6 Grenfell Street Kent Town , S.A. , 5067 • Phone: 08 8267 2555 • Fax: 08 8363 3444 • Email ID: reception@hassa.com.au • Website : www.hassa.com.au