Valentine’s Day is coming up! It’s the perfect holiday to reflect on the health of your relationships and appreciate the love (of all kinds!) in your life. In addition to roses, chocolate and teddy bears, don’t forget that healthy communication is a cornerstone of a successful Valentine’s Day and a successful relationship.
How Hearing Loss Complicates Communication
Hearing loss, particularly age-related hearing loss, doesn’t necessarily mean that the world sounds like the volume levels were turned down. Often, you lose your hearing by the pitch, starting with high-pitched sounds. As it happens, high-pitched sounds make up the bulk of our speech—specifically, consonants. This means that someone with hearing loss may hear someone speaking, but miss consonant sounds, making it sound like the speaker is mumbling or slurring their words.
It can be embarrassing to repeatedly ask “what?” when in a conversation. As a result, you may find yourself pulling away from conversations, half-listening or simply keeping quiet when others are speaking to avoid embarrassment. This leads to pulling away from social relationships and feelings of isolation and depression.
Communication Strategies for Hearing Loss
If you have difficulty hearing, here are some strategies for communication that can help you, on Valentine’s Day and beyond:
- Maintain eye contact. Humans are social creatures, and as a result, we are hardwired to pick up on social cues, both explicit and subtle. Maintaining eye contact when you’re speaking with someone can help you catch body language cues or read lips, which may fill in the gaps if you didn’t hear something.
- Repeat. When someone finishes speaking, repeat what they said back to them in a slightly rephrased way. This will confirm to you and the speaker that you heard what was said, identify any potential miscommunication and give an opportunity for clarification if necessary.
- Ask specific questions. If you know you missed something, instead of chirping “what?” or “huh?”, ask a specific question: “Where did you say you went?” “What day did this happen?”
- No bluffing. If you didn’t catch something, don’t pretend you heard it. You’ll lose confidence, your confusion will only increase as the conversation continues and you run the risk of the other person realizing you’re bluffing and feeling misheard.
How Hearing Aids Can Help
If hearing loss is significantly affecting your relationships, you should consider hearing aids. These incredible devices bring many benefits to your life, beyond simply helping you hear better. In the case of communication, hearing aids are designed to amplify speech sounds, emphasize those higher pitches that you may be struggling to hear and lessen the mental load on your brain as it processes speech information.
Hearing aids will surely enhance your relationship with your valentine. In fact, studies show that you’re more likely to wear your hearing aids if your significant other attends your appointments with you and is an active participant in your hearing loss treatment journey. This is because they want to help you succeed, and you both will enjoy the enhanced communication that comes with hearing better.
If you’re ready to begin your hearing loss treatment journey and see the advantages it can bring to your communication and social relationships, call The Hearing & Speech Center today to schedule a hearing evaluation.
