Nowadays, the cellular phone network is a lot more dependable (and there’s a lot less static involved). But that doesn’t mean everyone can hear you all the time. And for people who have hearing loss, it can be particularly difficult.
There must be an easy solution for that, right? Why not utilize a set of hearing aids to make your phone conversations a bit clearer? Actually, it doesn’t work exactly that way. Even though hearing aids can help with conversations, with phone conversations it can be a little more difficult. But there are certainly a few things you can do to make your phone conversations more effective.
Why phone calls and hearing aids don’t always get along
Hearing loss typically progresses slowly. Your hearing typically doesn’t just go. It has a tendency to go a little at a time. It’s likely that you won’t even notice you have hearing loss and your brain will try to utilize contextual and visual clues to compensate.
When you have phone conversations, you no longer have these visual clues. There’s no added information for your brain to fill in. You only hear parts and pieces of the other individual’s voice which sounds muffled and distorted.
How hearing aids can be helpful
Hearing aids will help with this. Many of those missing pieces can be filled in with hearing aids. But talking on the phone while wearing hearing aids can introduce some accessibility problems.
For example, putting your hearing aids close to a phone speaker can create some harsh speaker-to-speaker interference. This can make things hard to hear and uncomfortable.
Tips to augment the phone call experience
So what steps can be taken to help make your hearing aids function better with a phone? Well, there are several tips that the majority of hearing specialists will recommend:
- Try to take your phone calls in a quiet spot. The less noise around you, the easier it will be to make out the voice of the individual you’re on the phone with. If you lessen background noise during phone conversations your hearing aids will perform so much better.
- Be truthful with the individual you’re talking to on the phone: If phone calls are difficult for you, it’s okay to admit that! You may simply need to be a little more patient, or you may want to consider switching to text, email, or video chat.
- Download a video call app: Face-timing someone or hopping onto a video chat can be a great way to help you hear better. The sound won’t be louder or more clear, but at least you will have that visual information back. And again, this kind of contextual information will be greatly helpful.
- Try utilizing speakerphone to carry out most of your phone calls: Most feedback can be prevented this way. Your phone conversations may not be particularly private, but even though there still may be a little distortion, you should be able to better make out the voice on the other end. The best way to keep your phone and your hearing aid apart is by switching to speakerphone.
- Connect your phone to your hearing aid via Bluetooth. Hold on, can hearing aids stream to smartphones? Yes, they can! This means you’ll be capable of streaming phone calls directly to your hearing aids (if your hearing aids are Bluetooth enabled). If you’re having trouble using your phone with your hearing aid, a great place to start eliminating feedback would be switching to Bluetooth.
- 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 when you’re having phone conversations.
Finding the right set of solutions will depend on what you use the phone for, how frequently you’re on the phone, and what your overall communication needs are like. Your ability to once more enjoy phone conversations will be made possible with the correct approach.
Call us for some help and advice on how to best use your phone and hearing aids at the same time.