Hearing loss makes it harder to recognize speech, negatively affecting your communication ability. If you’re having trouble following along during work meetings or conversing with friends when out to eat at The Old Post, read more to learn how hearing aids can help!
How Hearing Loss Affects Speech Recognition
One of the earliest signs of hearing loss is struggling to understand speech. It may seem as though people are frequently mumbling, or you might need to ask others to repeat themselves more often.
Speech is hard to understand because speech sounds are made up of varying frequencies, which makes them more complex. Complex sounds are often harder for people with hearing loss to decipher.
Additionally, most consonant sounds are higher-frequency sounds. Most people with hearing loss start losing the ability to hear higher-frequency sounds first. So, you may notice you especially struggle with people who have higher-pitched voices, such as children.
Poor Speech Recognition Strains Relationships
These difficulties in understanding speech can negatively affect your relationship. Your spouse or children may start to express frustration that you’re not listening to them or complain that you forgot something they already told you. Whereas you might feel exhausted from the extra mental effort it takes to interact and feel as though your loved ones are being unfairly impatient with you.
This can make it harder to have meaningful communication with those that you love, leading to feelings of resentment, isolation and loneliness for everyone involved.
Hearing Loss Affects Every Interaction
While our closest relationships are the ones that we value the most, being able to communicate is essential to everyday interactions. Struggling to understand what’s being said when at the grocery store, doctor’s office or even when ordering a cup of coffee can start to increase your levels of stress, anxiety and frustration.
How Hearing Aids Make Communication Easier
Hearing aids can make speech recognition easier in any environment. Some of the things they do to make communication easier include:
- Amplifying voices in louder environments
- Focusing on noise that is coming in front of you (like a person speaking) while minimizing other sounds
- Adjusting to the frequency of the human voice
- Make speech sound clearer and richer
- Minimize background or ambient noise, particularly in louder environments
- Offer programs that can recognize speech patterns
Hearing aids don’t just make communicating easier, but they can increase your levels of happiness as well. Studies have shown that people with hearing loss report both better speech recognition in noisy environments and a better overall quality of life after being fitted with hearing aids.
If you’ve been having a harder time communicating because of your hearing loss, take the first step towards better hearing health and call Western Montana Hearing and Speech today to schedule an appointment.