As we learn more about how to stay healthy, we learn more about the importance of social connections, whether that’s romantic partnerships, family, friendships or our larger neighborhood and community connections.
While hearing loss can negatively affect our ability to communicate and connect with others, using hearing aids can help keep your relationships strong.
Why Hearing Loss Impacts Relationships
Hearing loss affects our ability to process sounds and can make understanding speech especially difficult. Some early signs of hearing loss include:
- Feeling like everyone is constantly mumbling.
- Difficulty following conversations in places with background noise.
- Trouble distinguishing voices when multiple people are speaking at once.
- Having a hard time understanding phone conversations.
- Needing to turn the volume up louder on the television to make out character dialogue.
When speech becomes harder to hear, it can lead to issues like frequent miscommunications or not noticing when someone is trying to talk to you. Not only can this be frustrating for you, but for those closest to you as well.
A survey of respondents with hearing loss found that 35% believed their relationship with their romantic partner suffered the most. However, they also noted that their relationships with their family, friends and coworkers were negatively affected as well.
How Hearing Aids Help Keep Social Connections Strong
- Enhances meaningful connections. Hearing aids help to strengthen your relationships with your partner, family and friends. It makes it easier to have meaningful conversations over morning coffee at home or when enjoying a meal out at LoRusso’s Cucina.
- More active social life. Hearing loss might keep you from activities like going out to the movies, seeing a play or attending a friend’s large Halloween bash. Hearing aids increase your confidence in your ability to socialize with others in these scenarios, making it a more enjoyable experience for you and those you’re spending time with.
- Increases confidence and independence. Hearing aids can make you feel sure about your ability to understand others, which makes you feel more confident and capable whether you’re talking with a coworker or meeting a new neighbor. They also allow you to move throughout your day independently instead of relying on your spouse or partner to act as a translator for you in social scenarios.
To learn more about how hearing aids can help you, call the experts at Center for Hearing & Speech today.
