A hearing aid fitting is more than just making sure your hearing aids fit snug and comfortably inside your ear canal. The appointment, which comes after you’ve been diagnosed with hearing loss and have selected the right hearing aid for your type and degree of hearing loss, enables your hearing healthcare professional to make sure the hearing aids you’ve chosen are set for your specific needs.

Fitting the hearing aids

The appointment, which takes roughly an hour, starts with the physical fitting of your hearing aids. Next, the audiologist will tune the settings of the hearing aids, making sure they provide the right amplification for your hearing loss. Any advanced features that come with your hearing aids will be customized to your preferences in order to maximize the benefits of your hearing aids for your specific lifestyle.

Hearing aid care and maintenance

After the hearing aids have been fitted and tuned, your hearing healthcare professional will teach you about your devices, starting with how to insert and remove them properly. Next, you will learn how to care and maintain your hearing aids. It is important to ask questions during this part and to take notes, as hearing aid maintenance is key to keeping the devices safe and clean. Lastly, your hearing specialist will show you how to change or recharge your hearing aid batteries and how to ensure they’re in the right way. 

Bring a friend or family member

Sometimes it can be helpful to bring a friend or loved one to the hearing aid fitting because you receive so much new information about your devices. An extra person can take notes or help remind you to ask certain questions about your new devices. Because the information you get during your hearing aid fitting is so crucial to using your devices, don’t hesitate to discuss any concerns with the hearing professional.

Follow-up appointment

At the end of the hearing aid fitting, your hearing healthcare professional will set up additional, follow-up appointment to see how the hearing aids are working for you. They will ask how you are adjusting to the hearing aids. The adjustment period can take a while, especially if you have been living with undiagnosed hearing loss for a while. As such, you may have multiple follow-up appointments scheduled to ensure your hearing aids are providing the maximum benefit and, of course, are comfortable.