Nowadays, the mobile phone network is a great deal more dependable (and there’s a lot less static involved). But that doesn’t mean everybody can hear you all the time. And for people who have hearing loss, it can be especially difficult.
There must be a simple solution for that, right? Why not use a pair of hearing aids to make your phone conversations a little easier? Actually, it doesn’t work exactly like that. In reality, while hearing aids can make face-to-face conversations a lot easier to handle, there are some difficulties associated with phone-based conversations. But there are a few tips for phone calls with hearing aids that can help you get a bit more out of your next conversation.
Why hearing aids and phone calls don’t always get along
Hearing loss typically isn’t sudden. It’s not like somebody simply turns down the general volume on your ears. You tend to lose bits and pieces over time. It’s likely that you won’t even notice you have hearing loss and your brain will try to utilize contextual and visual clues to compensate.
So when you get on a phone, all of that contextual info is gone. Your Brain doesn’t have the info it requires to fill in the blanks. You only hear parts and pieces of the other person’s voice which sounds muffled and distorted.
How hearing aids can help
Hearing aids will help with this. They’ll especially help your ears fill in a lot of those missing pieces. But there are some distinctive accessibility and communication difficulties that arise from wearing hearing aids while talking on the phone.
Feedback can happen when your hearing aids come close to a phone, for instance. This can result in some uncomfortable gaps in conversation because you can’t hear really well.
Tips to enhance the phone call experience
So what measures can be taken to help make your hearing aids work better with a phone? Well, there are a few tips that most hearing specialists will recommend:
- Download a video call app: Face-timing somebody or hopping onto a video chat can be a great way to help you hear better. It’s not that the sound quality is magically better, it’s that your brain has use of all of that amazing visual information again. And once more, this type of contextual information will be greatly helpful.
- Find a quiet setting to conduct your phone calls. It will be much easier to hear the voice on the other end if there’s less background sound. Your hearing aids will be much more effective by reducing background noise.
- Be sincere with the individual you’re speaking with on the phone: It’s ok to admit if you’re having trouble! Many people will be just fine transferring the conversation to text message or email or video calls (or simply being a little extra patient).
- Hearing aids aren’t the only assistive hearing device you can use: Devices, including numerous text-to-type services, are available to help you hear better when you’re having phone conversations.
- You can utilize your Bluetooth function on your hearing aid to stream to your phone. Hold on, can hearing aids connect to smartphones? Yes, they can! This means that if your hearing aids are Bluetooth enabled, phone calls can be streamed right to your phone. If you’re having trouble using your phone with your hearing aid, a great place to start getting rid of feedback would be switching to Bluetooth.
- Try using speakerphone to carry out the majority of your phone calls: Most feedback can be avoided this way. Your phone conversations might not be very private, but even though there still may be a little distortion, you should be able to better understand the voice on the other end. Knowing how to better hold your phone with hearing aids (that is, away from your ears) is essential, and speakerphone is how you accomplish this!
Finding the correct set of solutions will depend on what you use your phone for, how often you’re on the phone, and what your overall communication requirements are like. With the correct approach, you’ll have the resources you require to begin enjoying those phone conversations once again.
Call us for some help and guidance on how to best use your phone and hearing aids at the same time.
