When you have a hearing loss, social gatherings at Christmas can lead to tricky listening situations. Here are a few tips for how to hear the conversation and immerse yourself in the Christmas spirit with the best hearing possible.
First and most importantly: If you own hearing aids, we encourage you to wear them to your Xmas holiday events. Some would think that with all the noise the hearing aids would make all the carols, clinging glasses etc more unbearable, but modern hearing aids are far more advanced than simple sound amplifiers.
Modern hearing aids are designed to filter out unwanted noise, and to help focus on speech, laughing and the grandkids singing (or maybe you’ll want to turn them down for that …
So, remember, where your hearing aids .. next check out a few tips we’ve put together to help make it an even merrier Xmas
1. Sit Somewhere you can see everyones face.. this will help you lipread and helps understand more of the conversation. Feel free to shift decorations that prevent you from seeing the people around the table at dinner time.
2. Find somewhere quiet – Avoid standing too close to loudspeakers and noisy kitchens, and find the quietest area of the room. This way it’s easier to hear conversation rather than noise.
3. Ask for help – Find a friend or relative who can repeat things you may not have understood, so you can feel more confident and included in the conversation.
4. Turn down background noise – Background noise makes it harder to hear, especially when there are lively conversations, carols and the sounds of rattling tableware. When the noise increases, we all talk louder, and the conversation volume quickly escalates. That makes the whole party noisier, which is a challenge if you have a hearing loss.
New Years Resolution…
If you have a hard time during the holidays and you haven’t done so yet …\tTake a hearing test .. through Auditorey you can access complimentary hearing tests, in clinic trials and fantastic expert advice/
