Do Your Hearing Aids Even Fit?

Two Factors To Consider

Not able to hear properly even with your hearing aids on? Is wearing hearing aids painful? It shouldn’t be. Discomfort and reduced performance may be caused by incorrect sizing. So the real question to ask is—do your hearing aids even fit you well?

Ensuring that your hearing aids fit properly is crucial to being able to hear accurately. Many people have problems with comfort and hearing ability only to discover that their hearing aids are the wrong size or need adjustment.

Here are two factors to look out for:

• Persistent pain or discomfort: While hearing aids might initially take some getting used to, most wearers settle in after the first couple of days. So if your pain or discomfort continues, don’t play it down or neglect it. One of the most common signs of an ill-fitting hearing device is pain in the ear. This is often the result of ear pieces that are too large, incorrect manufacturing or jaw moments that affect the size of the ear canal. Moreover this pain can also radiate to other areas. Take the hearing aids back to figure out if size is the issue.
• Whistling sound: Do you hear a whistling sound when you wear your hearing aids? Your hearing devices might be too loose for you. While some feedback from an auditory device is normal and indicates that it is working, it also depends on what you are doing when you hear it. Spontaneous feedback when brushing your teeth and hair or when you are chewing or scratching the side of your head could be the signs of an improper fit. Loose-fitting hearing aids allow extra sound to leak out of the receiver and reach the microphone input, causing a feedback loop that manifests as a highly irritating squeal, otherwise known as a “whistling” hearing aid.

A trained and experienced audiologist will ensure a proper fit the very first time. While it is not uncommon to go back for readjustments this must be done as soon as possible to ensure optimal comfort and performance.