This Valentine’s Day, Treat Hearing Loss to Improve Your Relationships

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, love is in the air. Have you been looking for the perfect gift to give your loved one to show them that you care? We know that finding the right thing can be a challenge, so why not do something extra special this year, and treat your hearing loss to improve your relationships?

You may think that your hearing loss only affect you. They’re your ears after all, right? However, living with untreated hearing loss isn’t just about you, and also affects your loved ones in profound ways. Your hearing loss causes major communication barriers, and creates profound problems in your relationships. Even the seemingly insignificant interactions you have throughout your day are more important than you think, promoting intimacy between you and your partner as you share all the little moments of life. When you’re not able to hear clearly and communicate easily, these small interactions become a source of frustration for both you and your partner, and drive you apart rather than drawing you closer together. As your hearing deteriorates, you start communicating less with your loved ones, and lose the important connections in your life.

Daily communication, whether about big things or small things, is more important than you think. One of the most fundamental building blocks of a healthy relationship is good communication. Whether with family or friends, almost all activities include lots of talking, from meeting friends for dinner to going to a concert, taking in a ball game, chatting with coworkers during coffee break, or hanging out with your family at home. But if you’re living with untreated hearing loss, you lose your ability to communicate easily, and the most valuable connections in your life start to suffer. Straining just to make out the words leads to frustration, resentment, and ultimately a feeling of isolation and loneliness for both you and your loved one.

When you can’t follow conversations, communication is a real challenge. You ask people to repeat themselves a lot, but you’re embarrassed to admit that you don’t understand what’s been said. You may choose to stay home rather than spend an exhausting evening playing an impossible game of fill in the blanks, where you always seem to answer inappropriately, and miss the punchline of every joke since you’re always a few steps behind.

If you can’t communicate clearly, you’ll soon find yourself having difficulties in your relationships. Communication is often reduced to yelling matches that leave everyone frustrated and upset. Living with untreated hearing loss leaves your prone to social isolation, as you pull back from situations that make you uncomfortable, or where you have trouble communicating clearly. Choosing to stay home and avoid embarrassment rather than meet your friends for dinner might seem like a good idea at the time, but when you fall into the habit of saying no, your relationships will suffer.

If you want to get the most out of your relationships, and give your loved one a gift they’ll truly appreciate, then it’s time to treat your hearing loss. Only 1 in 4 Americans who would benefit from a hearing aid seek treatment. That means that 75% of Americans who have difficulty hearing are putting their relationships in jeopardy! Almost half of those with untreated hearing loss report that the breakdown in communication resulted in the loss of the relationships they cared about the most.

The good news is, people who treat their hearing loss report improvements in their relationships, are able to communicate easily, and get back to sharing all the little things in life. This positive effect extends to all your relationships, whether with your spouse, your family, your friends, and your colleagues.

Tired of letting your hearing loss impact your life? If you want to improve your relationship, visit us at My Hearing Centers. We’ll provide a hearing assessment, and work with you to find the perfect device that will match your lifestyle and hearing needs. Once you’ve been fitted with the device that’s right for you, you’ll be astounded by the difference it makes in all your relationships, especially the one you care about the most.