The Gift of Better Hearing

The holidays allow you to focus on what really matters: spending time and building bonds with your loved ones. However, strengthening those bonds can be difficult when you struggle with hearing issues. With the music, crowded rooms, and gaiety that revolve around holiday celebrations, keeping up with conversations can feel impossible. 

The gift of better hearing can brighten all of your holidays to come. Learn more about the benefits of being able to easily hear your loved ones and get some tips on holiday hearing care.

Hearing Aid Benefits: The Impact of Effortless Hearing 

The holidays give you the chance to catch up on everything that has been happening in your loved ones’ lives. There may be new members to welcome and get to know. There may even be interpersonal concerns that you’d like to address and resolve. 

Having deep and meaningful conversations that strengthen bonds is very difficult to do if you struggle to catch all of the conversational nuances. Even casual chats can become a chore for you and whomever you’re speaking with. 

These difficulties can lead you to avoid prolonged talks because you think they may annoy the other person, which could mean you end up feeling isolated from your loved ones. This not only makes the holiday season less pleasant but could even impact your mental health. With better hearing, connections can grow and you can feel included. 

A significant part of the holidays is also sharing music and movies with loved ones. There may be holiday pageants and school productions that you want to attend or even participate in. Without being able to hear correctly, you can miss a lot of what makes the season cozy and fun. 

From caroling to opening presents, you can lose a lot of beautiful moments if you’re not able to catch every joyful sound. With hearing aids, you can rediscover the magic of the season and fully immerse yourself in everything it offers. 

December Hearing Health: How to Help Yourself This Season

If you don’t yet have hearing aids and want to ensure that you don’t miss anything, you can still follow a few tips to fully enjoy the season. 

Let Your Loved Ones Know

It’s very important to let your loved ones know that you’re having hearing problems. This can prompt them to talk more slowly or enunciate more clearly. All of that can make it easier for you to have a conversation without asking the other person to repeat themselves. 

Use Your Best Hearing Side

Like many people living with hearing loss, you might have one ear that hears better than the other. Let loved ones know that that’s the case, and encourage them to sit on your best side if you’re having a conversation. 

During meals, let the person on the “bad” side know that you may have trouble hearing them if they speak too low. That can prevent awkwardness and misunderstandings. 

Choose Quieter Spots

When there’s too much background noise, you can be overwhelmed by all of the sounds you can’t pick apart. Take breaks from the noise when you need to. 

If you’d like to have a meaningful conversation with a loved one, finding a quiet spot can make a difference. Ask them to step outside or move to another room away from music and lots of other voices. 

Have an Ally

It’s always helpful to have someone with you who knows that you’re struggling to hear, especially in large celebrations when you don’t want to let everyone know that you have difficulties. This ally can provide context clues about the conversation, give you a summary of anything you missed, and otherwise offer support. 

Choose a Spot in the Middle of the Table 

Sitting somewhere near the center of a table allows you to be more involved with different conversations. If you’re at one end, you will likely struggle to hear the person at the other end. 

If you’re given a seat at the head of the table, consider asking to swap. Let your loved ones know that you appreciate the thought, thank them, and explain why you’re choosing to change seats. 

Chat in Well-Lit Areas

Even if you don’t read lips, being able to see the other person when they speak does help. You can better have an overall sense of what they’re saying by getting contextual clues from their expressions. 

Grateful for Hearing: Giving Yourself the Gift of Better Hearing With Regular Tests

If you’ve noticed that you’re struggling to hear others as clearly as you used to or that loud locations make it almost impossible to keep up with conversations, consider getting a hearing check. Although not all hearing loss is reversible, early treatment might slow down the progression of the condition or even halt it. 

Once you know that you’re experiencing hearing loss, you can also take proactive steps to protect your well-being. Significant hearing loss is connected to cognitive decline, but you can help yourself by wearing hearing aids and seeking other treatments. 

There are lots of treatment options for hearing loss, from hearing aids to cochlear implants. When you address the problem early, you have the best chance of getting help that truly makes a difference in the quality of your life and allows you to enjoy the holidays once again. 

Experience the Joys of the Season at Full Volume

It can be very difficult to manage all of the social events that the holidays demand of you. It’s even more difficult if you have trouble hearing. All of the things you might have taken for granted, like enjoying a favorite film with loved ones or joining a sing-along, can become a challenge significant enough to make you wish the holidays were over. 

You don’t have to struggle with hearing loss when there are options. At Happy Ears Hearing Center, we help those in Gilbert, Surprise, and Peoria, AZ, experience the holidays and the rest of the year at full volume. Contact our team to schedule a hearing check with our audiologist.