One study on the effect of providing a hearing aid to a person with hearing loss on their significant other found that “Before the provision of a hearing aid significant others experienced difficulties with person-to-person conversation, with group conversation and in viewing (listening to) television of the same order as did the hearing impaired individual. After appropriate intervention the difficulties were greatly reduced with resultant improvement in quality of life for both parties.”
The purpose of this post is to review other ways hearing aids can improve your love life.
Better Communication
Any relationship expert will tell you that good communication is the key to healthy relationships. If you can’t hear your partner well, you’re not able to communicate with them well. And even if you feel like you can hear their voice, if you have untreated hearing loss, you’re most likely misunderstanding them more than you realize. This can lead to miscommunication and frustration.
Investing in and wearing hearing aids allows you to hear your partner’s voice with ease. Many modern hearing aids offer speech clarity features to further boost your understanding.
More Energy
If you feel exhausted after lengthy conversations, you’re not alone. Audiologists refer to this phenomenon as listening fatigue, which causes symptoms such as tiredness and brain fog. This can leave you too worn out to enjoy activities with your partner like hiking at Mt. Tabor Park.
Hearing aids can combat listening fatigue, since when you’re wearing them, you won’t need to strain to decode sounds anymore. This will provide you with more energy to enjoy activities with your partner.
Decreased Responsibility for Your Partner
If you’ve gone a long time without treating your hearing loss, your partner has likely picked up extra responsibilities, whether you’ve noticed or not. For example, they may act as your translator, schedule your appointments, answer calls and respond to the doorbell and other alerts and alarms. Unfortunately, over time, this can lead to resentment.
When you choose to treat your hearing loss, you’ll be empowered to communicate better on your own and take back some of the responsibilities your partner has taken on for you.
To learn more about the effects of untreated hearing loss or the relationship benefits of seeking treatment, call the hearing experts at Mt. Hood ENT & Allergy today.