Nearly 28.8 million adults in the U.S. could benefit from the use of hearing aids. Yet, people often wait several years to accept that they may need them for various reasons, including being intimidated by their function.
Signs of Poor Function
If you were resistant to the thought of hearing aids and are now encountering some struggles with their functionality, you may just need to take them to your hearing specialist for some configurations. If you’re new to them, you may not understand what it feels like when they’re functioning well.
Strategies To Use
If you’re experiencing the following, your hearing aid is likely functioning improperly:
- Experiencing feedback, whistling or volume fluctuations: Audio distortions or feedback could indicate a few things. The hearing aid could not be fitted properly to your ear. It could also suggest the hearing aid is failing in some way and may need to be replaced. If the hearing aid isn’t fitted properly, it could cause damage to the ear canal in the long term so if you’re hearing feedback, volume fluctuations or whistling you should schedule an appointment with your hearing specialist.
- Experiencing sudden hearing loss: If suddenly your hearing aid seems to stop working or doesn’t seem to be working as well as it used to it could indicate your hearing loss has worsened. This could be due to a progression in your type of hearing loss or even due to new medications you may have started. If you experience sudden hearing loss or a decline in your hearing with or without hearing aids, schedule an appointment with your hearing specialist to ensure you can recover your hearing, if possible.
- Experiencing pain or discomfort: If you’ve been wearing your hearing aid for some time and it suddenly becomes uncomfortable or painful it could mean some parts of your hearing aid are too worn and need to be replaced. If the hearing aids are new to you, pain could mean the hearing aids don’t fit properly. Head in to see your hearing specialist to discuss an upgrade or receive an adjustment.
Adjusting to a new pair of hearing aids isn’t a one-and-done process. A time of reconfiguring and adjustment is to be expected. Your hearing aids also need cleaning and maintenance to function properly.
Try to exercise patience with your hearing aids to find the right fit and settings that work for you. Your hearing specialist can guide you through the steps of ensuring you’re experiencing the best benefits hearing aids have to offer.
For questions or concerns about your hearing aids or to schedule a hearing test, contact Augusta – Aiken ENT & Allergy for a consultation today.