50+ Lifestyles

Hearing your Best for the Holidays

By Dr. Ali Hunt, Au.D, CCC-A
Parker Audiolology, P.C.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! It is also a very noisy time of the year. People are gathered in the kitchen while the Christmas meal is being prepared, having to talk over the loud hand mixer whipping up mashed potatoes. Grandchildren are running around with excitement of Santa Claus or playing with their new toys. Holiday music is playing in the background while family members are laughing, sharing stories, and enjoying each other’s company. All of the holiday hustle and bustle can take a toll on communication when you have difficulty hearing.

Here are some helpful hearing tips to ensure you enjoy the most of family gatherings.

When possible, catch up with family members one-on-one in a quiet room away from the noise. Eliminating the background noise will greatly improve communication difficulties. With family members all gathering together to share meals and make memories over the holidays, it can get difficult for a person experiencing hearing loss to follow along with conversations.

When seated at the table, try to pick a place where you can see the most people. This will allow you to see facial expressions and body language as family and friends are speaking.

Furthermore, do you find it frustrating to keep asking someone to repeat what they said? If you did not hear or understand what someone said the first or second time around, ask your communication partner to rephrase what they said. Conveying the message with different words or saying them in a different way may help the message click better.

If you are a hearing aid user, it is recommended to have your devices cleaned and checked by your audiologist prior to the holiday season to ensure your technology is working appropriately for all of the holiday events!

Are you hosting a holiday gathering and have a guest in attendance that experiences hearing loss? There are a number of ways you can ensure that everyone feels included and part of the conversation. Those classic Christmas songs certainly get people in the holiday spirit, but for someone with hearing loss, the background music can add to the frustration of communication difficulties. It is fine to keep the music on, but please keep the volume set low as to not interfere with the flow of conversations.

If you are seated around the table and a family member seems lost within the conversations, help them feel included! Repeat or rephrase what was said, cluing your loved one in on what was said. It is also important to make sure to get their attention prior to speaking to them. Speech may also be easier to understand if you speak slowly and clearly. This gives the person with hearing loss time to process what was said. These tips will certainly help improve the flow of conversation. However, go easy on yourself if you find you are still having difficulty hearing and understanding. Background noise is an extremely challenging environment to carry on conversations in, even if you do not experience hearing loss. Enjoy this special time of the year with your loved ones.