Throughout our day, we can find ourselves in many different listening environments. Whether you’re enjoying a quiet morning at home, working in a bustling office, or listening to live music during a night out at Sheba Piano Lounge, you want to make sure your hearing aids provide the best listening experience in any environment.
How To Optimize Your Listening Environment 
While you don’t always get to choose your listening environments, make sure to advocate for yourself when you do. While hearing aids will help you no matter where you are, there are other steps you can take to make listening easier.
- When able, choose locations with the fewest distractions and minimal background noise
- Pick smaller rooms over larger ones for meeting places.
- If you must be in a larger room, try to sit near the wall, as it can help amplify the voice of the speaker.
- Try sitting as close to the speaker as possible.
- Find a space that is well-lit to help you see the speaker’s face. Visual cues like lip-reading can help improve your listening experience.
Hearing Aid Features That Improve Communication in Noisy Environments
Human beings are social creatures. In one study observing the amount of time hearing aid users spent in different listening environments, researchers found that participants spent an average of 57% of their time in conversation.
Oftentimes, these conversations can take place in busier places like restaurants, bars or other large social gatherings. While these environments can make conversation difficult, several hearing aid features can make it easier, including directional microphones and noise reduction settings that can help suppress background noise and let you focus on speech.
Connecting With Others Virtually
There’s a lot that gets done virtually these days, from business meetings to connecting with family members in a different state. Hearing loss can make these types of communication more difficult to understand. Thankfully, many hearing aids now come with Bluetooth™ capabilities. This means that they can double as a pair of wireless earbuds, and you can stream audio from your smartphone or laptop directly into your ears, allowing for clear sound and seamless communication.
Bottom Line
Hearing aids can help us communicate in all different sorts of environments. Discuss your particular communication needs with your audiologist when selecting your hearing aids so that they can best assist you in finding the right pair to maximize your listening experience.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call San Francisco Audiology today.