Modern cell phones have become a lot clearer and more reliable nowadays. But in some cases, it will still be hard to hear what the person on the other end is saying. In fact, there’s one group for whom phone conversations aren’t always a reliable experience: those with hearing loss.
Now, you may be thinking: there’s an easy fix for that, right? Can’t you make use of some hearing aids to help you understand phone conversations more clearly? Actually, it doesn’t work precisely like that. Even though hearing aids do help with conversations, with phone conversations it can be a little more difficult. But there are certainly some things you can do to make your phone calls more effective.
Phone calls and hearing aids don’t always work effectively together – here’s why
Hearing loss usually advances gradually. Your hearing usually doesn’t just go. It tends to go a little at a time. This can make it hard to even notice when you have hearing loss, especially because your brain tries very hard to fill in the gaps with contextual clues and other visual information.
When you have phone conversations, you no longer have these visual hints. Your Brain doesn’t have the info it requires to fill in the blanks. There’s only a really distorted voice and you only make out bits and pieces of the spectrum of the other individual’s voice.
How hearing aids can help
This can be improved by using hearing aids. Lots of those missing pieces can be filled in with hearing aids. But there are a few unique accessibility and communication difficulties that happen from wearing hearing aids while talking on the phone.
Feedback can occur when your hearing aids come close to a phone, for instance. This can make things difficult to hear and uncomfortable.
Tips to improve the phone call experience
So, what can you do to overcome the obstacles of utilizing a phone with hearing aids? Well, there are a few tips that most hearing specialists will suggest:
- Find a quiet place to carry out your phone conversations. The less noise near you, the easier it will be to pick out the voice of the person you’re on the phone with. If you minimize background noise during phone calls your hearing aids will perform so much better.
- Be truthful with the person you’re speaking with on the phone: It’s all right to admit if you’re having difficulties! Many people will be just fine switching the discussion 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: There are other assistive devices and services that can help you hear better when you’re having a phone conversation (including numerous text-to-type services).
- Consider using speakerphone to carry out most of your phone calls: This will protect against the most severe feedback. Your phone conversations may not be particularly private, but even though there still might be a little distortion, you should be able to better understand the voice on the other end. Knowing how to hold the phone better with hearing aids (that is, away from your ears) is crucial, and speakerphone is how you achieve this!
- Download a video call app: You might have an easier time making out phone conversations on a video call. The sound won’t be louder or clearer, but at least you will have that visual information back. And once more, this kind of contextual information will be greatly helpful.
- Stream your phone to your hearing aid using Bluetooth. Wait, can hearing aids connect to smartphones? Yes, they can! This means that if your hearing aids are Bluetooth enabled, phone calls can be streamed directly to your phone. This can prevent feedback and make your phone calls a bit more private, so it’s a practical place to start if you’re having trouble on your phone.
Finding the correct set of solutions will depend on what you use the phone for, how often you’re on the phone, and what your general communication requirements are like. Your ability to once again enjoy phone conversations will be made possible with the correct approach.
Contact us for some help and advice on how to best utilize your phone and hearing aids together.
