Do you engage in lip reading, cupping your ears and ensuring you sit close to the action? Do you nod your head in agreement and smile even when you can’t hear what others are saying? And do you laugh because others are laughing, just to mask your confusion? If you find yourself doing these things, you may have hearing loss. These are common coping strategies for someone on the fence about getting hearing aids.
Lip Reading coupled with Hearing Aids Relying on lip reading as a primary means of communication is a mistake. It can be challenging to follow along in a conversation this way. When paired with hearing aids, however, it can be a good coping strategy. Reading lips alone is exhausting and overloads your cognitive function. Making mistakes about what someone says is frustrating, but using hearing aids as your primary tool lets lip reading add a whole new dimension to the conversation, especially in noisy environments. Cupping Your Ears Does Not Work Trying to funnel sound into your ears by cupping them doesn’t work as well as wearing hearing aids. It’s a useless coping strategy unless you are in a loud environment or someone speaks very softly. As a result, you may miss vital spatial and speech cues important for understanding conversations. False nodding and Smiling Faking your way through a conversation only hurts you. Stick with a patient friend or family member who doesn't mind repeating things for you. It is better to ask again what someone is saying versus pretending to hear. Why? If you struggle to converse with loved ones, you will miss out on the fun if you don’t ask what’s happening. And, if you are at work, you could get fired for not doing assigned tasks you didn’t hear or for missing crucial points in a meeting. Pretending to understand a conversation only invites trouble. You deprive yourself of the meaning of these conversations and miss important information. Laughing to go along with Others Laughing to go along with others only makes things worse. If someone is insulted, and everyone laughs, you might not want to do the same. Also, the joy of conversing with others becomes absent because you can lose track of what was said. Authentic laughter is best; that is another reason hearing aids are the best coping strategy you can employ. Trying to cope without Hearing Aids can be Very Challenging There are some strategies commonly utilized by people with hearing loss. And where lip reading counts, it is only a secondary strategy at best. Enjoy your life, save your job, and be true to yourself--get hearing aids to have the best coping mechanisms possible. You will preserve your cognitive function, your life will be more enriched, and you will have less mental strain and stress. Contact one of our hearing instrument specialists at Pure Sound Hearing for a complimentary hearing test. Comments are closed.
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