What should users of new hearing aids realistically expect?
When wearing hearing aids: • Your hearing in quiet environments should be improved • Your hearing in moderate background noise should be improved • Your hearing in loud background noise should be NO WORSE than without the hearing aids • Soft speech should be audible; average speech should be comfortable; loud speech should be loud, but never uncomfortable • Your ear-molds should be comfortable • Your own voice should be “acceptable” to you • There should be no feedback when the hearing aids are properly seated in your ears • You may hear sounds you have not heard for a while (like footsteps or the refrigerator humming) – this is normal Be patient. It requires time to adjust to hearing aids. Your listening skills should improve gradually as you become accustomed to amplification. It is important to accept that hearing aids will not restore your hearing capabilities to “normal” or to pre-existing levels. Your attendance at our complimentary New Horizons™ Workshops will assist you greatly
When wearing hearing aids it is important to be realistic and patient. Hearing aids do not claim to restore your hearing to “normal” and may not allow you to hear perfectly in every listening situation. Familiar sounds such as birds, turning the pages of your newspaper, or even your own voice or footsteps may be strange to you initially because you have not been used to fully hearing these things for some time. It may take a while to adjust to your new hearing aids and realize your full potential.
