Contemporary cell phones have become a lot clearer and more dependable nowadays. But that doesn’t mean everybody can hear you all the time. And for individuals who have hearing loss, it can be particularly challenging.
Now, you might be thinking: there’s a simple fix for that, right? Can’t you use some hearing aids to help you understand phone conversations better? Actually, it doesn’t work exactly like that. Even though hearing aids can help with conversations, with phone conversations it can be a little more difficult. But there are some tips for phone calls with hearing aids that can help you get a bit more from your next conversation.
Why hearing aids and phone calls don’t always play nice
Hearing loss usually develops slowly. Your hearing usually doesn’t just go. You tend to lose bits and pieces at a time. This can make it difficult to even detect when you have hearing loss, particularly because your brain tries very hard to fill in the gaps with context clues and other visual information.
When you talk on the phone, you no longer have these visual clues. There’s no added information for your brain to work with. There’s only a very distorted voice and you only make out bits and pieces of the range of the other person’s voice.
Hearing aids can help – here’s how
This can be helped by using hearing aids. Lots of those missing pieces can be filled in with hearing aids. But there are some unique accessibility and communication difficulties that happen from using hearing aids while talking on the phone.
For instance, placing your hearing aids next to a phone speaker can cause some harsh speaker-to-speaker interference. This can result in some uncomfortable gaps in conversation because you can’t hear that well.
Tips to improve the phone call experience
So what measures can be taken to help make your hearing aids work better with a phone? Well, there are a few tips that the majority of hearing specialists will endorse:
- You can utilize your Bluetooth function on your hearing aid to connect to your phone. Yes, contemporary hearing aids can stream to your cellphone via Bluetooth! This means that if your hearing aids are Bluetooth capable, phone calls can be streamed directly to your phone. This can eliminate feedback and make your phone calls a bit more private, so it’s a practical place to start if you’re having trouble on your phone.
- Try using speakerphone to carry out most of your phone conversations: This will counter the most serious feedback. There may still be some distortion, but your phone call should be mostly understandable (if not necessarily private). The best way to keep your phone and your hearing aid away from each other is by using speakerphone.
- Hearing aids aren’t the only assistive hearing device you can get: Devices, including numerous text-to-type services, are available to help you hear better during phone conversations.
- Use video apps: You might have an easier time making out phone conversations on a video call. It’s not that the sound quality is somehow better, it’s that your brain has use of all of that fantastic visual information again. And this can help you put context to what’s being talked about.
- Be sincere with the individual you’re speaking with on the phone: If phone calls are difficult for you, it’s okay to admit that! You may simply need to be a little extra patient, or you might want to think about using text, email, or video chat.
- Try to take your phone calls in a quiet spot. It will be a lot easier to hear the voice on the other end if there’s less noise. If you lessen background noise during phone calls your hearing aids will perform so much better.
Depending on your general hearing needs, how often you use the phone, and what you use your phone for, the appropriate set of solutions will be accessible. With the right approach, you’ll have the resources you require to begin enjoying those phone conversations once again.
If you need more advice on how to use hearing aids with your phone, call us, we can help.
