When you have concerns about your hearing, you seek the help of an audiologist to have your hearing tested. The results of these tests can determine whether you would benefit from a hearing aid. In the event your audiologist recommended a hearing aid to improve your hearing loss, you’ll need to schedule a fitting. There are a number of ways you can prepare for your fitting, including the following.

More than just a device

A hearing aid fitting is so much more than just handing you a hearing device and sending you on your way. A hearing aid has to be properly fitted to your ear, and this requires some further testing, as your hearing issues and hearing aid will need to be suited to you – there is no one size fits all. They need to be fitted for comfort and to get the maximum benefits possible for your hearing. You will already have had a thorough series of hearing tests, with both pure-tone testing and speech testing, to understand the extent of the hearing loss or damage in your ears. The audiogram will tell your audiologist how severe your hearing loss is and what pitches and frequencies you struggle to here.

Calming your fears

You will be able to sit down and discuss the varying technologies, sizes and styles of hearing aids with your audiologist at the appointment. You can discuss what you are comfortable with and what feels right for you. This is also your opportunity to discuss any worries about any possible limitations that the hearing aid will give you, and you will have each of those worries squashed by the way your audiologist explains everything to you. There are different features across the variations of hearing aids, and you will be able to have this explained to you at the appointment.

The actual fitting

Your audiologist will be able to tell you that the hearing aids are giving you the right amount of amplification and this is confirmed with real ear measures. These can tell your audiologist how loud sounds are in your ear canal. This is done with a thin tube passed into the ear canal, which is then attached to a microphone to measure the volume of the sound you can hear in the eardrum without a device near your ear. Following this, the actual hearing aid will be put into your ear, careful not to touch the tube in there already. The hearing aid is then turned on so that your audiologist can measure the volume of sound in your ear. Different sounds will be checked so that you can hear what is comfortable for you.

A hearing aid fitting is nothing to be feared and is the next step in supporting your hearing capabilities in the future.