Health Tip: Adjusting to a Hearing Aid

Allow time to get used to it

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(HealthDay News) -- Wearing a new hearing aid can be difficult, as your ears and brain get used to louder and sharper sounds.

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The Minnesota Department of Human Services offers these suggestions to help you adjust to your new hearing aid:

• Start out wearing your hearing aid only at home. Make a careful effort to distinguish all of the sounds that you're now able to hear.
• Gradually add more sources of sound -- such as the radio, television, or a conversation with family or friends -- before leaving home with your hearing aid.
• Wear your hearing aid only as long as it feels comfortable, and gradually extend the amount of time that you wear it.
• Try not to be frustrated with having to frequently adjust the volume, at first. The hearing aid may have to be adjusted by your doctor or audiologist after a bit of time to make sure you can hear comfortably.
• Sounds should start to feel more natural and familiar after several weeks.

-- Diana Kohnle