During your hearing aid evaluation, your audiologist will help you select the best hearing aid technology for you. Your hearing devices will be ordered according to your prescription and after they arrive, you’ll come back for a fitting appointment. Your audiologist encourages you to bring a family member or close friend to this appointment. During this appointment, you’ll wear your hearing aids for the first time, programming will be fine tuned and you’ll learn how to care for your new technology. Plan on at least an hour for this appointment.
Wearing your hearing aids for the first time
Your hearing aids will be programmed at the time of your fitting. But that doesn’t mean they will be perfect the first time you listen to them. Don’t be surprised by the rush of feelings you may have when you first hear with your hearing aids. Remember, your brain has been deprived of important auditory input and when it returns, it can feel odd. Part of the fitting process is adjusting your devices so they deliver sound in a pleasing manner, exactly as you want to hear it.
Live speech mapping
Some other audiologists use a series of chirps, beeps and tones to adjust hearing aids. East Bay Audiologists knows that’s not the way you hear in real life. That’s why we use Live Speech Mapping to adjust your hearing aids. It uses a sound from real life with which you are familiar to fine-tune your hearing aid settings.
A small microphone will be placed in your ear before the hearing aid is inserted. This slender device will capture sound as it is transmitted in your ear and even display it on a screen for you to observe. The audiologist will adjust the hearing aid settings to meet what is referred to as a prescriptive gain curve.
Caring for your hearing aids
During the fitting appointment, you will learn to properly insert and remove your hearing aids. You’ll also learn how to change or recharge your hearing aid batteries and how to perform routine maintenance. Be sure to ask any questions you might have about hearing aid care.
Adjusting to hearing aids
If you wear glasses or contact lenses (especially bifocals or trifocals), you probably remember there was a period of adjustment as your eyes became accustomed to the lenses. Adjusting to wearing your hearing aids takes time as well. Before you leave East Bay Audiologists, you’ll receive a plan to help you adjust to your hearing aids and schedule a follow-up appointment.