The Effects of Hearing Loss on Daily Life

Our sense of hearing is always on, sending us information about the world around us, helping us communicate and connect with others. When you experience hearing loss, the effects ripple throughout your life. Our hearing ability impacts how we perform at work and hearing loss can limit enjoyment of family time and leisure activities.  If left untreated, hearing loss has been shown to impact out quality of life and mental health. The good news is, although most hearing loss can not be reversed, it can be effectively treated.

From your ability to hear an alarm clock or notice the whistle of a teakettle, to hearing your child sing you a song, hearing loss can disconnect you from your home life. When your hearing has gaps, everyday conversations become harder to participate in. Even solitary activities like watching television or listening to a stereo can become frustrating. Our homes are also full of audio alerts – the ring of a phone call or the warning beep of a smoke alarm convey important messages, messages that hearing loss can cause you to miss- sometimes with critical consequences. If you have hearing loss, consider using adaptive technologies, like bed shaking alarms, to help you stay aware and safe in your home.

Another major sphere where people feel the effects of hearing loss the most is at their school or workplace. In educational settings, an undetected hearing loss can hold a student back from their education. Missing verbal lessons in a classroom can mean missing out on critical knowledge. Unacknowledged hearing loss can also make it harder to relate to peers and participate in classroom discussions. Difficulty parsing spoken information can be a huge educational hurdle and even keep a student from pursuing higher education. Luckily, the ADA has taken steps to provide equal access to education for people with hearing loss. Most educational institutions have the capacity to provide assistive devices and written lessons to hearing impaired students.

In the employment sector, untreated hearing loss poses big challenges. Fragmentary hearing can lead a worker to misinterpret instructions or feedback. Multi-person meetings and conferences can be difficult to follow, as hearing loss often limits not only how well we hear sound but also our ability to distinguish sound sources. This means that in addition to not hearing the entirety of what is being said, it can also be difficult to determine who is saying what. Even with digital communication, emails and text messaging making workplace communication easier, workers with hearing loss still average lower income than workers with unaffected hearing. Again, the ADA works hard to compensate for these disadvantages, and OSHA regulation requires that a workplace setting provides adequate protection against on-site hearing damage and harmful noise.

Our world isn’t just our household and workplace. Often hearing loss takes a toll on our favorite leisure activities. Hearing loss effects how we travel and socialize, as well as how we access spaces and events.

The world is noisy, which creates a complex backdrop for many social gatherings. Parties and big dinners, full of lots of conflicting sounds may become confounding for people with hearing loss. If social environments like restaurants or venues become hard for a person with hearing loss to make sense of, it could result in a withdraw from socializing.

The world of travel is also full of challenges for people with hearing difficulty. Stations and airports are often crowded with people and rely on audio announcements to alert travelers to changes, boarding statuses and delays. When traveling with a hearing issue, it is important to stay on top of announcements through text alerts or telecoil systems if you use a telecoil equipped hearing aid.

Hearing is important everywhere you go. It can keep you involved in your place of worship, help you follow your favorite sports team, or even just engage in casual conversation at your local park or grocery. If you believe you are experiencing changes in your hearing, it’s important to find answers.

At HearCare Rhode Island, we’re focused on just that: helping you access the solutions you need to hear your best.  We can help you overcome the challenges of hearing loss and keep in the swing of your daily life. Set up an appointment today, and let us help you get the most from your hearing, every day.