Your first hearing aid fitting is an exciting milestone in your journey toward better hearing. The process is a highly personalized experience designed to ensure your hearing aids meet your unique needs and lifestyle. Read on for an in-depth look at what to expect at your first hearing aid fitting.
What Happens at a Hearing Aid Fitting?
Getting hearing aids that fit perfectly is critical to getting the most out of your hearing loss care. However, when we talk about ‘the perfect fit,’ it means a lot more than just how comfortable a hearing aid is to wear.
A hearing aid fitting is typically a two-step process designed to ensure your new hearing aids are perfectly tailored to your needs, lifestyle, preferences, and physical comfort. This involves everything from getting your initial hearing test and custom ear impressions to setting up and learning how to use special features, smartphone apps, wireless accessories, and more.
How Long Does a Hearing Aid Fitting Last?
Most prescription hearing aids are custom-made to fit perfectly in your ear. Due to this personalization, the fitting process for hearing aids typically spans two appointments. Each appointment usually takes about one to two hours, depending on your specific needs.
Below, we provide a more in-depth look at the hearing aid fitting process from start to finish.
Hearing Aid Fitting Step 1: Initial Hearing Test and Consultation
The hearing aid fitting process begins with a comprehensive hearing test and consultation. During this first appointment, your hearing specialist will perform a physical ear exam and a cleaning to address any potential injury, infections, or earwax (cerumen) buildup. They will then conduct a thorough hearing test to determine the type and degree of your hearing loss.
These results will help your specialist determine the most appropriate hearing aid style and features for your specific hearing needs.
Hearing Aid Types and Styles
There are many styles of hearing aids available today, including:
- In-the-ear (ITE)
- In-the-canal (ITC)
- Completely-in-the-canal (CIC)
- Invisible-in-the-canal (IIC)
- Behind-the-ear (BTE)
- Receiver-in-canal (RIC)
Some styles of hearing aids are better suited for more severe degrees of hearing loss than others. For instance, in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid styles are generally a great treatment option for mild to moderate degrees of hearing loss. Meanwhile, behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids are often more powerful and can treat all degrees of hearing loss.
Daily Routine and Lifestyle
To ensure your new hearing aids truly align with your lifestyle your specialist will also want to get to know more about your daily routine, occupation, hobbies, and more.
Understanding your lifestyle and the environments that you are in most often will help pinpoint the features and technology best suited to your unique needs.
Custom Ear Impressions
During your first hearing aid fitting appointment, your specialist will also make custom impressions of your ears. Similar to how a dentist might take impressions of your teeth, your hearing specialist will use a soft silicone-based material to create a detailed impression of your outer ear and ear canal.
These impressions are then sent to the manufacturer, where your custom hearing aids will be made.
Hearing Aid Fitting Step 2: Try On, Programming, and Guidance
Once your custom hearing aids are ready, it is now time for the second phase of the fitting process. This is when you’ll try on your new hearing aids for the first time. This appointment is also when your specialist will fine-tune all your settings and provide professional guidance on how to use and care for them.
Trying On Your New Hearing Aids
Trying on your new hearing aids for the first time is an exciting moment, and important to ensure they fit and function exactly like they should. To do this, your specialist will check the physical fit of your hearing aids to confirm that they sit securely and comfortably in your ear.
To prevent feedback that can occur when devices fit poorly, make sure to tell them about any pressure points or irritation you feel while wearing them.
Custom Hearing Aid Programs
Custom hearing aid programs are personalized settings that are created by your specialist to optimize the performance of your hearing aids in specific listening environments. They use the results of your hearing test, along with your feedback, to create custom pre-sets for the real-life listening situations that are the most challenging for you, such as:
- Quiet Environments: A program designed for conversations or activities in calm, quiet settings, like your home.
- Noisy Environments: A program that prioritizes speech clarity and reduces background noise in places like restaurants, social gatherings, or crowded areas.
- Outdoor Activities: A program that minimizes wind noise and adjusts for environmental sounds, perfect for hiking, walking, or other outdoor activities.
- Phone Calls: A dedicated program for phone use, sometimes with direct streaming to your hearing aids.
Hearing Aid Guidance and Support
This appointment is also your opportunity to learn everything you need to know to use and care for your new hearing aids. During this session, your hearing specialist will provide personalized guidance and support, covering topics such as:
- How to wear them properly: Having you practice how to correctly place them in your ears comfortably and remove them.
- Turning them on and off: How to operate the power settings, and how to tell when they are powered on or off.
- Battery management: How to replace disposable batteries or how to charge rechargeable styles, and tips for maximizing battery life.
- Settings adjustments: How to adjust settings like the volume, noise reduction features, and more.
- Switching between programs: How and when to change between custom hearing programs.
- Cleaning your hearing aids: A step-by-step walkthrough of how to clean your hearing aids every day and the best products to use.
- Storage tips: Advice on where and how to store your hearing aids safely when they’re not in use.
- Wireless pairing: How to connect your hearing aids to wireless accessories, smartphones, tablets, or other Bluetooth-enabled devices.
- Using apps: Downloading and setting up any hearing aid apps on your smartphone or tablet that allow you to adjust settings, track battery life, and more.
- AI features: If your hearing aids use artificial intelligence (AI), your specialist will explain everything you should know about this amazing technology and show you how to use AI features.
Your specialist will gladly answer all your questions to ensure you leave your fitting appointment feeling empowered and ready to use your hearing aids every day. They will also have you schedule a follow-up appointment a few weeks after this final fitting. This is to address any concerns that may arise and fine-tune your hearing settings further, offering the ongoing support you deserve.
Get the Personalized Hearing Loss Care You Deserve at Audibel
Your hearing is unique, and you deserve hearing loss solutions that are tailored to meet your every need. From custom hearing aids to one-on-one appointments with hearing care specialists, Audibel is here to guide you through every step of your journey to better hearing.
Ready to rediscover the joy of hearing? Find an Audibel hearing clinic near you today.
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