There is nothing more frustrating than finally getting your hearing aids, then experiencing usage problems with them.
Going from being excited to hear more of the world again, to being unable to correctly adjust the volume to your needs can be disheartening.
This can leave you feeling more isolated than before and have a detrimental effect on your mental health.
Before you admit defeat and throw your hearing aids in a drawer never to be seen again, let us walk through the different ways you can adjust the volume of your hearing aid to help you get the best out of them.
General Information On Hearing Aid Volume Controls
There are a few general tips that apply to the majority of hearing aids on the market that may be helpful to new hearing aid users.
Firstly, a lot of hearing aids come equipped with an internal program designed to constantly monitor the environment you are in.
This program automatically adjusts the volume, microphone direction, and levels of your hearing aid. You will probably not notice any of these changes happening while wearing your hearing aids.
However, the automatic adjustments this program makes do not preclude you from manually adjusting the volume of your hearing aids.
Additionally, making manual adjustments does not affect the way the program works, it is simply an override of the volume adjustments.
Finally, the changes you make to your hearing aid volume are temporary. If you turn your hearing aid off or it runs out of battery, the volume will have been reset when it is restarted.
You may need to make adjustments to the volume each time you turn your hearing aid on.
Let’s look closer at the specific ways in which you can change the volume of your hearing aids depending on their design.
Push-Button
The push-button design is the most common method for adjusting the volume of hearing aids and is the most likely to feature on your behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids.
Each of your hearing aids will have a singular button on the back.
Press the button on your right hearing aid (colored red) briefly, once. This will raise the volume of both of your hearing aids. The average increase of a single press is 2dB.
Press the button on your left hearing aid (colored blue) briefly, once. This will lower the volume of both of your hearing aids. The average decrease of a single press is 2dB.
If you press the button for too long the volume change feature will not be activated.
This feature may have been disabled by your audiologist. If the method described above does not work with your push-button hearing aids, contact your audiologist who can enable this feature for you.
Toggle Switch
The toggle switch design works similarly to the push-button design and also features on BTE hearing aids.
The toggle switch is located on the rear of the hearing aid. To increase the volume by one increment, push the toggle upwards for no more than 1 second.
To decrease the volume by one increment, push the toggle downwards for no more than 1 second.
To increase or decrease the volume by multiple increments, you can push the toggle multiple times. The multiple pushes should still be short, not more than 1 second.
If you push the toggle for 3 seconds or more, the hearing aid will not adjust the volume.
Rotary Wheel
Rotary wheel volume control features predominantly on in-the-ear (ITE) hearing aid styles. This design is very different from the button style volume adjustment.
To increase the volume of an ITE hearing aid with a rotary wheel, turn the wheel towards your eyes, or counterclockwise if you were looking at it in your ear.
To decrease the volume, turn the wheel away from your eyes, or clockwise if you were looking at it in your ear.
The volume for ITE rotary wheel designs is capped at a maximum and minimum volume which is set up by your audiologist. When you reach either volume limit, your hearing aid will beep, usually 3 times.
After this, the wheel will continue to turn when pushed but the volume will not exceed the limit.
Smartphone Apps & Wearable Technology
Increasingly, modern hearing aids are being manufactured with the ability to be controlled via smartphone apps and Bluetooth technology.
If you have a hearing aid with Bluetooth and smartphone compatibility you may be able to download an app to your smartphone to discreetly adjust the volume of your hearing aid.
Simply search for your hearing aid’s brand and model in your app store to get started.
This is a great option for those who prefer to keep their hearing aids incognito. Adjusting the volume of your hearing aid will look like sending a text or browsing social media to people around you.
There are also increasing numbers of hearing aids that are compatible with wearable technology such as smartwatches.
To find out if your hearing aids are compatible with your smartwatch, simply search for your brand in your smartwatch app store.
Remote Control
Remote controls are hearing aid accessories that can be purchased separately from your hearing aids. The purpose of a hearing aid remote control is to provide the ability to adjust the volume of your hearing aid with greater visibility.
Some people may struggle with feeling the very small buttons, switches, or wheels on hearing aids and would benefit greatly from being able to see what changes they are making.
Final Thoughts
There are many ways to change the volume of your hearing aids depending on the style and brand that you have. This may be something that is worth considering before getting your hearing aids to see what would work best for you.
However, it is always possible to change the style of your hearing aid if you do not get on with your current ones. There are many options out there now.