It’s time to gather around the dining table for a festive feast. It’s time for Thanksgiving. Are you ready? Are you excited? If you have hearing loss, excitement might be replaced with anxiety. All those people talking at once, all that background noise; how are you going to understand a word of what’s going on?
Before you back out of attending Thanksgiving Day dinner, have a read of these 8 top tips that we at Acadian Hearing are certain will help you enjoy the festivities.
Take your pick
When it comes to seating, finding a seat that puts you facing most of the other guests. This will help you follow what they’re saying. If seats have already been assigned or that perfect spot is already taken, just ask to switch. Explain that it would help you hear things better and most people will happily oblige.
Keep asking
Sticking with the theme of communication, ask fellow guests to accommodate your hearing loss, whether that’s getting them to speak up or turn the volume on the TV down. Once they know you are struggling to hear things clearly, they will almost certainly be willing to help make things easier.
Find a quiet spot
There is often lots of time before and after the main event (the turkey, that is) to have a good chat with one or 2 people. This doesn’t need to be done at the table so why not move the conversation to a quieter corner of the room. Less background noise means you won’t have to strain so much to hear them.
Get your tech in place
Hearings aids today are high tech pieces of equipment. Invest in hearing aids with mobile microphones and you can place your microphone in the center of the table to amplify everyone’s voices. You’ll be better equipped to focus on whichever conversation takes your interest. If you want to get into a deep and meaningful chat with just one person at the table, ask if they could clip your mobile microphone to their top. Their voice will then be streamed directly to your hearing aids, cutting out much of the background noise.
Have a tinker
Hearing aids come with different settings designed for different noise environments. What’s more, these days you can adjust the settings with ease using your smartphone or hearing aid remote control. It could be as simple as turning the volume up or down with a click or two.
Bag those batteries
All that amazing processing your hearing aids can do depends on their batteries working. Don’t be caught out by flat or damaged batteries, pack some spares in your bag.
Stream it
If you’ve got modern hearing aids, chances are you’ll have the ability to stream digital devices direct to them. That includes the TV. So before the big game kicks off, make sure you’ve got your TV streamer all set up. That way it won’t matter how many people are crowded around the TV, you’ll still be able to hear the score and throw your 2 cents in when everyone starts commentating.
Take a break
Don’t feel you have to stay the course and talk to guests for the entire evening. Concentrating hard enough to follow conversations for hours on end can be exhausting. Take a break. If you need to have a lie-down, do. Maybe sit in a quiet room for a while or go for a walk. Your host will understand and you’ll come back refreshed and able to enjoy the rest of the celebrations.
Among these 8 top tips you may have noticed what an important role hearing aids can play, reducing the stress and difficulty you would otherwise experience while straining to hear conversations, watch the game and simply enjoy yourself.
To find out whether hearing aids could improve your hearing loss, book a hearing test with us at Acadian Hearing.
