Do you mishear conversations on the phone- especially with accents?
DO YOU RELY ON THE SPEAKER PHONE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION (that everyone else can then hear too)?🤷♀️
Do you have to pass the phone onto someone else, as you can’t hear and then have to hear the stories second hand?
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!
Many of my clients complain that the phone is a pain point for them- they often miss parts of the conversation, need to keep saying ‘pardon’ or answer the phone and hand it straight to their partner to have the conversation. They say they feel left out, miss hearing their friends, children and/or grandchildren’s voices and don’t like being told things by second hand.
If you can relate to this, here are some tips and tricks that can help you enjoy your conversations on the phone and keep you connected to the ones you love and the things you love to do.
Tips for hearing better on the phone WITHOUT hearing aids
- If your phone has a volume control, speaker phone or ‘boost volume’ button, use these to receive a louder signal. By using speaker phone, you are using both your ears for hearing rather than relying on just one. Heart for Hearing have a range of phones made specifically for the hard of hearing.
- If available, use video calls (Skype, WhatsApp, Facetime etc.) so that you can see the person you are speaking to. We lip-read without even realising and seeing the person’s lips can help our brain fill in the missing words and understand what’s being said.
- If you are using your mobile phone, especially in noisy situations, use headphones or earbuds to give you a more direct, clearer signal in both your ears, so that the noise around you isn’t as distracting.
- If using your phone on speaker phone, you can use voice to txt apps so that the conversation is translated from voice to text that can be read.
If having a conversation on the phone is becoming more difficult, we would recommend giving us a call on 0411521338 to have your hearing checked.
Tips for hearing better on the phone WITH hearing aids
- Positioning the phone– Rather than holding the phone to your ear like you normally would, we want the sound from the phone to go directly to the microphone of the hearing aid. Ask your audiologist where your hearing aid microphone is and then position the phone so that the speaker of the phone is on the microphone of the hearing aid. You may need to move the phone around slightly until you get the sweet spot.
- Using a telecoil– You can ask your audiologist if your hearing aid has the option of a telecoil and if it does, he/she can set up a program in the hearing aid specifically for the phone (by pressing a button on your hearing aid or using a remote control). This will allow the sound from the phone to come directly through your hearing aids at the level you need for your loss.
Bluetooth streaming-Hearing aids now days can receive information wirelessly from some mobile phones directly to the hearing aid or via a phone streamer. This means that the speaker’s voice is coming through the hearing aid at the level you need for your hearing loss and allows you to have conversation on the phone with ease. Speak to your audiologist to see if your phone and hearing aids are compatible or call Heart for Hearing on 0411521338 to try this new technology today.