Hearing Aid Selection and Fitting

A hearing aid is programmed against your test results and then adjusted against your life. The first settings are a starting point. Voices may sound thin, your own voice may sound strange, and the refrigerator may suddenly be an event. Some of that settles as your brain readjusts to sound it has not been getting, and some of it is a setting that needs to change. Telling those apart is what the follow-up visits are for.

Ask about the trial and return period before anything is ordered, and get the terms in writing: how long it runs, when the clock starts, what is refundable and what is not. Ask how many adjustment visits are included and for how long. Ask whether the office does real-ear measurement to verify what the device is doing in your ear canal. None of these are awkward questions. An office that fits devices well answers them without hesitating.

What this usually involves

• Ask what the trial and return period is, in writing, before anything is ordered
• Ask how many follow-up adjustment visits are included, and over what period
• Ask whether the fitting is verified with real-ear measurement
• Ask what is bundled into the price and what is billed separately later
• Expect to come back and describe what still sounds wrong — that is the process, not a failure

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