Four Tips for Better Hearing during the holidays
The holiday season is a busy time with lots of social activities and gatherings of family and friends. While this is an exciting time, it can also be an anxious time for people with hearing loss. Social activities and gatherings mean a lot of listening in noisy environments which is often difficult for people with hearing loss. Below are our top four tips to help you hear well and enjoy this time of year.
1. Hear your best with your hearing aids
Hearing aids help you the most when you are wearing them regularly and they are optimised for your hearing. To ensure you hear your best with your hearing aids:
- Make sure your hearing aids are working their best. This includes making sure they are set up for your current hearing loss. If you haven’t had your hearing or hearing aids checked in a while, make an appointment at your local independent hearing clinic to get your them checked.
- Wear your hearing aids every day. If you haven’t been wearing your hearing aids regularly – now is the time to start. If you only wear your hearing aids in noisy environments, it can be overwhelming. So, where them as much as possible in the lead up to the holiday season, and at all your important events.
- Make sure you have everything you need. Some clinics close over the holiday period so check your spare parts – domes, wax guards, batteries etc. – and if you are running low contact your local independent hearing clinic to get some more before the holiday season.
2. Use Communication Tactics
There are lots of tactics you can use in noisy environments to help you hear better. These include:
- Looking at the person you are talking too so you can see their face, preferably with their face well lit.
- Position yourself so you are close to the person you are talking too – this includes swapping seats at a dinner table to talk to someone rather than trying to talk to someone at the other end of the table.
- Put your back towards the bulk of the noise – we hear better from in front of us than behind us so use this to your advantage.
3. Control your Environment
While this can be a tricky sometimes, where possible, minimising the noise in your environment makes it easier to hear. This can include:
- Turning off any background noise like music. Also, close doors to rooms with noisy areas such as the kitchen.
- If you are out – choose a table in a quiet area of the venue away from the register, door, and kitchen. Consider an outside table if it is not on a noisy road.
- Catch up with people in smaller groups – more people tend to make more noise. Smaller groups can make it easier for people with hearing loss to follow the conversation.
4. Relax
Getting anxious can make listening more difficult. Things you can do to help keep you relaxed this holiday season include:
- Scheduling time between events to take listening breaks or moving to a quiet area for a little while – listening in noise is tiring and this taking breaks can help to keep you relaxed.
- Take a few deep breaths. Or whatever it is that helps you relax when you are stressed.
- Have a listening buddy. This is a person at an event that knows you have a hearing loss and can help you if you have not heard something.
The holiday season is a great time filled with excitement. Implementing the above tips can help you manage your hearing loss during this time so you can have fun and enjoy.
Need help with your hearing and hearing loss? Your local independent hearing clinic can help support you through this holiday season. To find out more about how your local independent hearing clinic can help you, check out the Find My Hearing Clinic – Clinic Locator