Hearing loss can make it difficult to connect and build meaningful relationships with those around you. If you feel hearing loss is affecting your ability to enjoy a healthy social circle, hearing aids may be the answer.
How Does Hearing Loss Impact Your Social Well-Being?
One review of 14 studies on the impact of hearing loss on social well-being found that hearing loss was associated with a higher risk of loneliness and social isolation. There are many reasons this association may exist, including but not limited to the following:
- Increased difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments.
- Cognitive overload and exhaustion from attempting to understand speech over the course of the day.
- Difficulty following conversations can lead to frustration and feelings of embarrassment.
How Can Hearing Aids Help?
Three ways hearing aids can help you strengthen and grow your social circle include:
- Increased confidence. When we struggle to do something we feel should be easy, our confidence can suffer. Hearing aids reduce the difficulty of everyday communication by amplifying speech sounds to provide clarity and ease. In addition to helping with communication in quiet environments, many hearing aids come equipped with background suppression features. By suppressing background noise, you’ll be able to hear your friends even when dinners at Spruce get a little loud.
- Decrease cognitive load. It takes more effort for those with hearing loss to understand everyday communication. This extra effort can lead to exhaustion and mental overload by the end of the day, leaving little energy for connecting with friends and family. By reducing the effort it takes to understand those around you, hearing aids can help ensure you have the energy you need for those weekly game nights.
- Reduced miscommunication. Miscommunication is one of the most common side effects of hearing loss and one of the biggest impediments to a healthy relationship. Hearing aids help provide clarity where miscommunication arises and prevent minor misunderstandings from turning into loud fights.
Using hearing aids to help grow your social circle is one of the best things you can do to improve your social life. To learn more about how you can benefit from these technologically advanced devices, contact San Francisco Audiology today to make an appointment with one of our specialists.