Ask An Audiologist: : Do I have to visit my hearing care professional regularly for follow up appointments?

Isabel graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences and a Master’s degree in Audiology from the National University of Singapore. With a strong passion to promote hearing awareness and hearing rehabilitation especially among the elderly in Singapore, Isabel provides training and support to Hearing Care Professionals in Singapore on behalf of Signia.

Today we catch up with her with some frequently asked questions!

I am an existing hearing aid wearer. Do I have to visit my hearing care professional regularly for follow up appointments?

Definitely! Prior to your first fitting, you probably have already gone through a period where you lived with some degree of hearing loss and have accepted what you hear – or not hear – as ‘normal’. Many people have misconceptions that hearing aids are magical instruments which can bring hearing back to normal immediately after wearing them. However, your brain needs some time to get used to hearing everything and learn to focus on speech patterns like before!

This sentiment is echoed by many other professionals – “After that much time, the brain has fully adapted to listening through the filter of hearing loss, so it’s not surprising that there is an adjustment period needed to get used to newly amplified sounds,” says Catherine Palmer, Ph.D., associate professor of communication science and disorders and otolaryngology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Due to this, your hearing care professional may have to give you a more comfortable setting in the beginning! Once you are more comfortable wearing them, the HCP will optimize your hearing aids settings for your hearing loss profile. We recommend wearing them for at least 8 hours every day!

If you are a long-term hearing aid wearer

We recommend that you visit your hearing care professional to get your hearing checked at least once a year!

Firstly, this is to monitor your hearing profile regularly. Secondly, this allows your HCP to fine-tune your hearing aid so that it is always performing optimally. I know a hearing aid wearer who often visits his hearing care professional regardless if his hearing aids need fine-tuning or not, just because he enjoys talking to people more ever since he got his hearing aid. Some days, he even drops by to visit even though his hearing aids are working optimally!

Hearing aids do change how people live their lives. If you feel that you are having problems with your hearing and would like to find out more, you can use our handy Store Locator to find your nearest hearing care professional!