There’s nothing like a casual chat with someone you love, until it turns into a broken record of “Huh?”, “What was that?”, and “Say that again?” And sure, sometimes it’s just bad timing or background noise, but if it keeps happening, you start to wonder… are they really not hearing you? If this is your spouse, or even your kid, yeah, chances are, you’ll be able to see for yourself whether or not they’re making some hearing health mistakes (even if neither of you realized it at the time).
Now, it’s easy to laugh it off the first few times. Maybe they misheard “chicken” as “kitchen,” or replied to a totally different question, and everyone just giggled. But after a while, it’s not so funny anymore, especially for them. Actually, if you really think about it, constantly missing bits of conversations can be frustrating and kind of lonely, too. So, how can you bring this up with them?
It’s Not Just You
Okay, so it’s best to start off with this, so one of the biggest misconceptions is thinking people just need the volume turned up. Louder isn’t always clearer. What’s usually going on is that certain tones or syllables are getting fuzzy, and that makes it way harder to follow along, even when they’re trying really hard to stay in the loop. Besides, you might notice them zoning out at family gatherings, or staying quiet in group chats when they’d normally be jumping in. How often does this happen?
Again, if you live with them, it’ll be easy to pick up. But overall, that’s not them being antisocial, it’s probably just exhausting trying to keep up.
How You Can Bring it Up without Making it Weird
Okay, it’s best to be honest here, but nobody out there loves hearing, “Hey, I think your ears are going.” Yeah, it’s a touchy subject, and the last thing you want to do is make someone feel like they’re falling apart. So instead of making it a big “we need to talk” moment, try something gentle. It doesn’t matter if this is your parents, siblings, spouse, kids, friends, or whoever else. But you need to be gentle rather than blunt.
Plus, no blame or pressure needs to be kept in mind, too. Just a check-in. Besides, you never know, it might actually be a relief for them to hear someone say it out loud.
New Tech Means New Confidence
You can’t really force anyone (maybe your kids, depending on their age) to take care of their hearing health. All you can do is nudge them. But of course, pushing for your loved one to be more active on their hearing health, especially wearing hearing aids, will make a massive difference.
But yeah, a lot of people, regardless of age, really don’t want to bother wearing hearing aids. And yeah, fair enough, but at the same time, hearing aids aren’t what they used to be. Plus, think better conversations, more confidence, and way fewer awkward moments. Actually, a lot of families say that improving speech clarity with aids made things feel normal again, like they could finally relax and just enjoy talking to each other without all the confusion.
Don’t Rush It
This stuff takes time. Sure, it’d be great if you had control, but unless it’s your child who’s under 18, you don’t exactly have any control over this situation. So, don’t try to rush things, but still give those nudges for changes.
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