It can be hugely frustrating to struggle to keep up with the conversation in a social situation and that can sometimes mean you start to avoid these scenarios rather than attempt to decipher the chatter, which is not good for your general wellbeing if you take that approach.
Technology has made it possible to improve your ability to hear what is going on around you with greater clarity than ever before and hearing aids with digital noise reduction are a fine example of what can be done to improve your life with better hearing.
Here are some suggestions to help you cope better with hearing loss.
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Good lighting helps
When your hearing starts to decline you will tend to go through a series of stages, one of which is probably a state of denial that nothing is wrong with your hearing.
Once you accept that you are not able to enjoy the same reception in your ears that you used to one of the coping strategies you might learn to use is to try and interpret some of the conversations with a bit of lip reading.
A high percentage of hearing loss sufferers will develop some reasonable lip reading skills, which is often referred to as speechreading these days.
If you are going to attempt this tactic successfully make sure that you arrange your rooms so that the lighting is at a decent level. You need good lighting to be able to read the other person’s lips and get the gist of the conversation.
Closer proximity
Some of us are not that comfortable with standing too close to the other person we are in conversation with but that is often necessary if you are going to be able to pick up what they are saying.
The distance can often be a major factor in understanding speech so make sure you get closer if you can.
Avoid background noise
A familiar foe for people with hearing loss is too much background noise.
Turn off some background distractions like the TV or radio and make every effort to minimize background noise as this will probably make a noticeable difference to your ability to hear better.
Get a decent hearing aid fitted
There are a number of other coping strategies to try that could improve your ability to hear better but the most obvious solution is to arrange to have a decent hearing device fitted.
The quality of hearing aids is too good to ignore and technology means they are often small but powerful, so embarrassment about wearing one should not be an issue.
Although hearing loss tends to follow a familiar pattern for many people who suffer from this problem it is often the case that you can find a potential solution that focuses on your specific hearing issues and enhances your ability to hear in the process.
Having a decent hearing aid is probably one of the best coping strategies of all if you are suffering from hearing loss.
