Last year, we celebrated Valentine’s Day with a post about the connections between hearing loss and heart health, which can be found by clicking here.
This year, we’re focusing on romance – OK, and hearing; because we’re us after all!
Romantic relationships are dependent upon emotional, verbal and physical connections. For people who are hard of hearing and their significant others, hearing loss can be a barrier to all of these things. In a 2007 article from The ASHA Leader, an audiologist and professor, Patricia Chute talked about some of the confusion involved in romantic relationships with hearing loss:
“All too often spouses blame each other’s ability to listen when in fact it is truly a hearing problem that is chipping away at their ability to communicate,” Chute said.
And a survey by Cochlear Americas that same year revealed that the relationship people with hearing loss cited as most likely to suffer was that with their romantic partner – a whopping 35 percent said romantic relationships trumped others in communication difficulties. When asked about their feelings when conversing with someone who appeared not to be listening because of hearing loss, 54 percent of people said they felt frustrated, 32 percent felt annoyed, 23 percent were sad and 18 percent felt ignored.
It’s not hard to imagine that relationships with significant others suffer the most; after all, in today’s busy world of work, volunteer activities and raising children or grandchildren, romantic relationships often thrive on finding brief, spontaneous and meaningful moments to connect emotionally. However, with untreated hearing loss, romance and spontaneity often take a hit as a result of the difficulties in communication.
While hearing aids are the solution to hearing loss, many people have a negative opinion of them but we’re here to tell you there are things to love about hearing aids:
♥ Untreated hearing loss may continue to decline. Hearing aids help to prevent that decline.
♥ Hearing aids are smaller, more powerful, and have more capabilities than their predecessors.
♥ Devices worn behind the ear aren’t as visible as you think. Take a look at the images on another of our blog posts, by clicking here.
♥ Hearing aids today come as simple or as complex as you like. Many have the capability to stream phone calls through Bluetooth. Others allow the user to adjust settings in specific environments and a GPS within the device recognizes the location on the next visit and automatically switches to the preferred settings. There are a wide variety of choices based on the manufacturer that is chosen and what smartphone you have.
♥ But what we love most of all, are dispensing hearing aids to patients who have, in the past, been stubbornly refusing hearing aids, until they realize it’s time and once they hear all of the things they’ve been missing, their emotions range from amazement to happy tears.
We’d love to see you at our offices, and we’d be happy to help you with your hearing health needs, but no matter where you go, we’re happiest when we know you take your hearing seriously.
Life is full of too many things worth hearing to willfully miss out.
If you’re in the New York City area and would like to come in for a hearing test, or if you’ve had a hearing test and want to discuss hearing aids (no pressure, no obligation) feel free to give us a call. We have hearing aids to try for a couple of weeks just to see how it goes; you have nothing to lose but your fear.
Audiological Diagnostics ♥ We’re All Ears™
Offices in Brooklyn, Manhattan & Queens
(718) 745-2826