Staying connected to friends is essential to our happiness and well-being. If you have hearing loss, hearing aids can help you keep your friendships strong.
The Importance of Social Relationships for Older Adults
Our relationships with others bring us joy and fulfillment in life and even benefit our health. These relationships naturally include our family and romantic partners, but close friendships are equally important as well.
Research has shown that engaging in activities with friends increases life satisfaction and can even buffer some of the negative effects of aging in older adults.
Hearing Loss Increases with Age
Hearing loss becomes more likely with age. Left untreated, the condition can make it harder to process sounds, and in particular, speech. Early signs of hearing loss often include feeling as though everyone is mumbling or needs to speak up.
You may also find that you have trouble following along during phone or video calls or when you’re out somewhere with background noise, like Stone Turtle Restaurant & Bar.
When these difficulties in communication arise, you may begin to dread social activities you once enjoyed. You either feel exhausted from working so hard to understand what is being said or find yourself on the outside of conversations, not being able to engage with others.
These feelings can lead you to begin to withdraw from social situations and isolate yourself from others, increasing loneliness and straining your relationships with family and friends.
Hearing Aids Help Keep Your Relationships Strong
Treating your hearing loss with hearing aids makes social situations that much easier. The right pair can increase your confidence in being able to understand and communicate, which helps you not only stay close to the friends you already have but also makes it easier to try new activities and form new connections with other like-minded people.
Hearing aids make speech recognition easier in several different ways, including:
- Make speech sound richer and clearer.
- Improve your ability to process high and low-frequency sounds and adjust to the frequency of the human voice.
- Amplify speech in louder environments.
- Suppress distracting background noise.
- Offer features and programs that help you recognize speech patterns.
To learn more about how hearing aids can help you, call Center for Hearing & Speech today to schedule an appointment with one of our specialists.
