Hearing aids require both a physical and a neurological adjustment period, and both ease with time.

The brain must relearn how to process and understand sounds it has been missing.

Hearing aids are essential, but rarely sufficient on their own—other communication strategies matter, too.

Before my first hearing aid impression was made, I had never put anything into my ear. A Q-tip now and then, before that was shown to do more harm than good, but never a gel that would harden into a three-dimensional model of my ear canal's twists and turns. And certainly nothing solid, for 10-plus hours a day, every day, indefinitely.

My audiologist was gentle, but having the mold taken hurt. As the gel set, sound receded until there was nothing left but a growing sense of pressure and dread. I barely made it home before I started to cry. Is this what it's like to wear hearing aids? I wondered.

Thankfully, it is not.

The Adjustment Gets Easier With Time

Hearing aids require a break-in period. At first you may be acutely aware of something strange in or on your ear, but for most people that sensation........

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