Getting hearing aids is a big step toward improving the quality of life, but your journey doesn’t end once you leave your audiologist’s office with your new devices. A hearing aid fitting is an important appointment that ensures they meet your unique needs, preferences and lifestyle. Here are three things you will learn at this crucial appointment.

Understanding Your Hearing Loss

An audiologist will take the time to discuss your hearing loss in depth. You may have already discussed it during your hearing evaluation visit, but your fitting appointment offers an ideal opportunity for further discussion. Instead of simply discussing technical results like audiogram results alone, they’ll explain their real-world significance. You’ll discover which frequencies pose more problems and how this affects your ability to understand speech in different environments. Additionally, you will gain knowledge as to how hearing aids can address such specific issues providing proactive management of hearing health for long term benefit.

Your Audiologist Will Teach You How to Utilize Your Device

At your hearing aid fitting appointment, your audiologist won’t simply hand you your new hearing aids and send you home. This is the time that will give you an important opportunity to familiarize yourself with them. Learning the proper way to insert and remove your hearing aids as well as how to care for and maintain them, as these tips will all play an integral part to get the most out of them. Plus, your audiologist will provide hands-on training regarding volume controls, program settings and wireless connectivity options which will make the transition period smoother.

Tailoring Comfort and Performance

Each ear is different, which requires customized hearing aids in order to maximize comfort and performance. Your audiologist will make adjustments during your fitting to make sure they fit comfortably while functioning optimally, from altering physical fit to optimizing internal settings for sound quality. Several rounds of adjustments and tests using real-world sounds or scenarios will likely follow to make sure everything works as intended.

What to Ask

At your hearing aid fitting appointment, take advantage of this time to ask any questions you have about the devices. Here are a few important ones:

  • How should I effectively clean and maintain my hearing aids?
  • What are the best practices for inserting and removing my hearing aids?
  • How can I troubleshoot common issues?
  • Are there certain environments or scenarios in which I should adjust the settings?

Asking these questions will give you the knowledge and confidence when wearing your new hearing aids, helping to maximize their functionality and features.

From understanding how hearing loss works to becoming adept at handling and adjusting hearing aids, this session sets up a successful hearing health plan. When heading in for your appointment, be prepared to learn, ask questions and collaborate closely with your audiologist so you leave not only with improved hearing but also with renewed confidence to face life’s sounds head on. If you want to learn more schedule an appointment with an audiologist.