There must be plenty of patience put to use when someone gets a hearing aid for the first time, both from the wearer and from the family and friends. The personnel fitting of the hearing aid to the patient should also be patient. A family, and the wearer in particular, have a lot to get used to when someone first starts wearing a hearing aid. It is also important that the professionals fitting the patient with the hearing aids be accommodating. New wearers should not have much trouble with the counseling they receive or the finer points of properly maintaining the devices, but many struggle learning how to hear with the hearing aids.

To fully adapt to the use of hearing aids, the normal brain takes between six and eight weeks. This time can be even longer, anywhere from three to six months, in a person with brain damage or an older individual. Not surprisingly, older individuals generally have more difficult times acclimating than do younger individuals in the same position. This adaptation phase will last from three to six months, all of which is contingent upon an individual's age and brain condition. Older people need more time to become comfortable with the use of a hearing aid compared to younger counterparts.

Patients suffering from severe hearing loss may not recognize their own voices when they speak. Many people do not realize that patients suffering from acute hearing impairment are not aware of their own voice while speaking. The experience of hearing your own voice when you speak is sometimes a lightening or perplexing experience for the first time hearing aid user.

The new user may think he is shouting at first, because he can hear himself talk for the first time in a long time. He will also notice small background sounds that have always been present but that have been left out of his hearing range because of hearing loss. Frequently when a patient is new to hearing aid use she will find that her voice sounds much louder than she expects. She may ask the person she speaks to if she seems to be shouting to him. Additionally, someone with a new hearing aid will start to become aware of everyday sounds that were not apparent before due to hearing loss. Such unaccustomed sounds can be jolting until they are distinguished and identified; often, the brain just blocks out the sounds, or else focuses solely on them.

Your brain will be working harder as it now has the added task of identifying more sounds, figuring out if it is important or not and electing to ignore or acknowledge the sounds, including learning what is speech and what is just background. Where once they had to shout, family and friends must remember that to do so anymore will cause pain to the hearing aid user. Further, this is an added function that the brain has to perform because it now has to identify the sound, choice to ignore or listen to it and focus on picking out the speech from the background noise. The family will have to adapt by remembering not to raise their voice when talking to the hearing aid user because it could cause the user pain. The patient is learning how to relate to his surroundings all over again, so patience from friends and family is key during this critical period of becoming acquainted with the new device.

Wearing a hearing aid can benefit the majority of people who are hearing impaired, but there are others that will find they cannot provide them with much help.

There are many factors that can influence the hearing aid wearer's experience: the length of time without auditory stimulation, the degree of hearing loss, proper counseling, proper hearing aid for the specific hearing loss, ability of the person to process what they hear and adjust to it and the age and attitude of the patient.

It's vital to keep in mind that hearing aids will not solve every hearing issue completely, nor are they applicable in every situation. They can usually help to improve your enjoyment of life and enhance your ability to communicate with those around you.

Regular maintenance to keep the aid in top condition is a priority. Care must be especially maintained in the summer months as factors like humidity and heat can affect the carefully-calibrated devices. Excess moisture and ear wax can keep your hearing aid from working. The hearing aids need to be cleaned daily to allow the sound to channel through. The smallest amount of ear wax can affect the quality of sound received by the wearer, or even cause the hearing aid to weaken or die because of clogging. During the summer, humidity and heat can have an impact on a hearing aid, and they will require a certain extent of looking after in order to stay in good shape. Moisture and earwax are the biggest enemies of hearing aids. Cleaning the hearing aids every day will keep them in top working order. Even just a little wax can distort the quality of the sound or make the hearing aid weak or dead.

If the electronics of the hearing aid end up with earwax in them it will lead to expensive repair bills. Be aware these problems can occur anytime throughout the year, not just during the summer. To prevent moisture problems, never store the hearing aids in the bathroom or anywhere damp. Summer is not the only season to have concern; it can happen at any point. You should always be sure to store your hearing aid in a cool dry location, and not in the bathroom.

Also, you can get prepared wipes that you should use a few times every day to make sure no debris gets in the hearing aids. Open the battery door of the hearing aid when not in use as this will helps air out the hearing aid and prolong battery life. There are prepared wipes specifically made for cleaning hearing aids; they can be used several times a day, every day. In order to help the hearing aid cool of faster and lengthen battery life, you should open the door to the battery to increase airflow. Lastly, you will want to have your hearing aids professionally cleaned and checked for defects a couple of times a year to ensure that they keep operating at maximum efficiency.