Many aspects of your day-to-day life can be impacted by Hearing Loss. Untreated hearing loss, for example, can impact your professional life, your favorite hobbies, and even your relationships. Communication can become strained for couples who are coping with hearing loss. Animosity can develop from the increased tension and more frequent arguments. If untreated, in other words, hearing loss can have a significantly negative impact on your relationship.
So, how does hearing loss effect relationships? In part, these hardships occur because the individuals are not aware of the hearing loss. After all, hearing loss is normally a slow-moving and hard to detect condition. Communication might be tense because of hearing loss and you and your partner might not even be aware it’s the root of the problem. This can lead to both partners feeling alienated and can make it hard to find practical solutions.
Relationships can be helped and communication can start to be mended when hearing loss is diagnosed and couples get practical solutions from us.
Can relationships be impacted by hearing loss?
It’s really easy to overlook hearing loss when it first presents. Couples can have significant misunderstandings as a result of this. As a result, there are a few common issues that develop:
- Feeling ignored: You would probably feel like you’re being ignored if you addressed somebody and they didn’t respond. When one of the partners has hearing loss but is unaware of it, this can often happen. The long-term health of your relationship can be severely put in jeopardy if you feel like you’re being ignored.
- Arguments: Arguments are fairly common in almost all relationships. But arguments will be even more aggravating when one or both partners have hearing loss. Arguments can happen more often too. For others, an increase in arguments could be a consequence of changes in behavior (for instance, boosting the volume on the television to painful levels).
- Intimacy may suffer: In lots of relationships, communication is the cornerstone of intimacy. This can cause a rift to build up between the partners. Increased tension and frustration are frequently the consequence.
- Couples frequently mistake hearing loss for “selective hearing”: Selective hearing is what happens when somebody hears “we’re having cake for dessert” very distinctly, but somehow does not hear “we need to take out the garbage before we eat”. In some instances, selective hearing is a conscious behavior, in other cases, it’s quite unintentional. One of the most frequent effects of hearing loss on a spouse is that they might begin to miss words or certain phrases will seem garbled. This can often be mistaken for “selective hearing,” causing resentment and tension in the relationship.
These problems will frequently start before anyone is diagnosed with hearing loss. If someone doesn’t know that hearing loss is at the root of the issue, or if they are ignoring their symptoms, feelings of resentment could be worse.
Living with somebody who is dealing with loss of hearing
How do you live with somebody who is dealing with hearing loss when hearing loss can cause so much conflict? For couples who are willing to formulate new communication techniques, this usually isn’t an issue. Some of those strategies include the following:
- Patience: This is particularly true when you recognize that your partner is struggling with hearing loss. You might have to repeat yourself more often or raise the volume of your voice. You might also have to speak more slowly. This kind of patience can be a challenge, but it can also drastically improve the effectiveness of your communication.
- Help your partner get used to their hearing aids: This can consist of things like taking over tasks that cause substantial stress (like going to the grocery store or making phone calls). You can also ask your partner’s hearing specialist if there are ways you can help them get used to their hearing aids.
- Make use of different words when you repeat yourself: When your partner doesn’t hear what you said, you will usually try repeating yourself. But try switching the words you use instead of using the same words. Hearing loss can impact some frequencies of speech more than others, which means certain words may be more difficult to understand (while others are easier). Your message can be strengthened by changing the words you utilize.
- Encourage your partner to come in for a hearing exam: We can help your partner regulate their hearing loss. When hearing loss is under control, communication is usually more successful (and many other areas of tension may recede too). Safety is also a concern with hearing loss because it can cause you to fail to hear the doorbell, phone, and smoke alarm. It may also be hard to hear oncoming traffic. Your partner can get assistance controlling any of these potential issues by scheduling an appointment with us.
- Try to communicate face-to-face as often as you can: Communicating face-to-face can provide a wealth of visual clues for someone with hearing loss. Your partner will be able to make use of facial cues and body language. It’s also easier to preserve concentration and eye contact. By giving your partner more visual information to process they will have a less difficult time understanding what you mean.
After you get diagnosed, then what?
A hearing test is a fairly simple, non-invasive experience. Usually, you will simply put on a pair of headphones and listen for specific tones. You will be better able to regulate your symptoms and your relationships after you get a diagnosis.
Encouraging your partner to touch base with us can help guarantee that hearing loss doesn’t sabotage your happiness or your partnership.