You’ve received a full hearing evaluation from your hearing healthcare specialist and your hearing aids have been ordered. Now what? Next, comes the appointment called the hearing aid fitting. If you’ve never had a hearing aid fitting before, you probably have a lot of questions. To help you prepare, here are the answers to four frequent questions about hearing aid fittings.

1. When does the hearing aid fitting happen in the process of hearing treatment?

Your hearing aid fitting will be scheduled after your hearing evaluation and hearing aid consultation (which often happen in the same visit). The timing for this important appointment mainly depends on when your hearing aids arrive at the hearing care professional’s office, but it usually happens within a few weeks.

2. What happens during the fitting?

Without going into detail, your hearing aid fitting appointment will include real ear measures to determine how well your hearing aids are working in your ears; calibration and programming of your hearing aid’s settings and features; training on how to use, clean and troubleshoot your hearing aids; and counseling on how to adapt to the way hearing aids change how you hear and communicate with others.

3. Can I wear my hearing aids as soon as I leave the fitting appointment?

The answer to this question is a resounding yes. Your hearing health professional will encourage you to be completely comfortable inserting, wearing, adjusting and removing your hearing aids before you leave. You’ll receive a schedule suggests how many hours to wear them each day until you adjust to using them all the time. Your hearing care provider may ask you to keep notes on the sound experiences you have with your hearing aids, if they’re working properly or not as well in certain environments. This will help them tailor your devices more specifically.

4. What happens next?

After your initial hearing aid fitting, you’ll be scheduled for another follow-up within a few weeks to check out how you’re adjusting and make any necessary changes to your hearing aids’ fit and settings. Your hearing care specialist may also refer you to hearing rehabilitation services, support groups or counseling to continue to help you adjust to life with hearing aids.

The fitting is just the start of your new life with hearing aids. From this point forward, you can expect to have an ongoing partnership with your hearing healthcare provider in ensuring your hearing needs continue to be met for years to come.