Hearing loss is a common chronic condition that affects millions of Americans. Data tells us that nearly 30 million adults in the U.S. could benefit from using hearing aids.
Hearing aids make all aspects of life easier. They can help you follow along during important work meetings, enjoy dinner out with your family at Fowler Street Grill and even make it easier to watch TV.
Hearing Loss and Watching TV 
Hearing loss can make it harder to understand what’s being said when you’re watching TV. It may seem like the characters are mumbling, and you might find yourself turning the volume up louder to try and understand. In fact, an early sign of hearing loss is having family members comment or complain about how loudly you watch television.
Not only does this make for an uncomfortable watching process for everyone in the home, but watching television too loudly can damage your ears, leading to further hearing loss.
Why Hearing Aids Help
Hearing aids don’t just amplify sounds, reducing the need to turn up the volume, they provide an all-around better listening experience when watching TV. They can automatically adjust to focus on the sound coming from in front of you on the screen while suppressing distracting background noise that makes it harder to follow along.
If you have hearing aids enabled with Bluetooth®, you may be able to wirelessly connect to your TV and stream audio from whatever you are watching directly into your ears. This improves the TV-watching experience not just for you but for your family and friends as well.
Other Tips for Watching TV with Hearing Loss
In addition to using hearing aids, there are other steps you can take to make TV watching easier and more enjoyable when you have hearing loss:
- Turn on closed captioning so that you don’t miss any important dialogue.
- Turn off or minimize any other background noise in the home before starting your movie or show.
- Invest in quality speakers for your television for better sound.
Considering Hearing Aids?
If you have been considering hearing aids but are unsure of where to start, the first step is to schedule an appointment with an audiologist. They will examine your ears, administer a hearing test and determine what sounds you struggle with as well as the severity of any hearing loss you might have.
These results will help your audiologist determine what hearing aids will work best for you and help guide you as you adjust to this new way of hearing.
To learn more or to schedule an appointment with one of our specialists, call Gulf Coast Audiology today.