Hearing Loss

If you have hearing loss, you may find that it takes extra effort and energy to talk with others. Hearing may be especially difficult in settings where there are many people talking or there is a lot of background noise. The increased effort it takes to be with other people may cause stress and fatigue, and you may begin to avoid social activities, feel less independent, and worry about your safety.

Hearing devices you may want to use include:

• Hearing aids. Hearing aids make all sounds louder (amplify), including your own voice. Common background noises, such as rustling newspapers, magazines, and office papers, may be distracting. When you first get a hearing aid, it may take you several weeks to months to get used to this. See a picture of the different types of hearing aids .
• Assistive listening devices. These devices make certain sounds louder by bringing the sound directly to your ear. They shorten the distance between you and the source of sound and also reduce background noise. You can use different types of devices for different situations, such as one-on-one conversations and classroom settings or auditoriums, theaters, or other large public spaces. Commonly used listening devices include telephone amplifiers, personal listening systems (such as auditory trainers and personal FM systems), and hearing aids that you can connect directly to a television, stereo, radio, or microphone.
• Alerting devices. These devices alert you to a particular sound (such as the doorbell, a ringing telephone, or a baby monitor) by using louder sounds, lights, or vibrations to get your attention.
• Television closed-captioning. Television closed-captioning makes it easier to watch television by showing the words at the bottom of the screen so that you can read them. Most newer TVs have a closed-captions option.
• TTY (text telephone). TTYs (also called TDD, or telecommunication device for the deaf) allow you to type messages back and forth on the telephone instead of talking or listening. When messages are typed on the TTY keyboard, the information is sent over the phone line to a receiving TTY and shown on a monitor. A telecommunications relay service (TRS) makes it possible to call from a phone to a TTY or vice versa.

Many other communication devices, such as pagers, fax machines, e-mail, and custom calling features offered by phone companies, can be helpful. To get more information about selecting and using listening, alerting, and telecommunicating devices, talk to an audiologist or contact one of the organizations in the Other Places to Get Help section of this topic.

A listening technique that also may help you adjust to reduced hearing is called speech-reading. Speech-reading is paying attention to people's gestures, facial expressions, posture, and tone of voice. These clues can help you understand what a person is saying and can make taking part in the conversation easier. Clues include facing the person you are talking to and having him or her face you, and making sure the lighting is good so that you can see the other person's face clearly.

Speech-reading is not the same as lip-reading. You can know how to speech-read without knowing how to read lips.

For family and friends of people with hearing loss

A person with hearing loss may feel cut off from conversations and social interaction. The extra effort and stress needed to take part in conversations can be tiring for all people involved. If you live with someone who has hearing loss, you may improve your communication by:

• Making sure the person knows you are speaking to him or her. Use his or her name.
• Speaking to the person at a distance of 3 ft (0.9 m) to 6 ft (1.8 m). Make sure that the person can see your face, mouth, and gestures. Arrange furniture and lighting so that everyone in the conversation is completely visible.
• Not speaking directly into the person's ear. Your facial expressions and gestures can provide helpful visual clues about what you are saying.
• Speaking slightly louder than normal, but do not shout. Speak slowly and clearly. Don't repeat the same word over and over again. If a particular word or phrase is misunderstood, find another way to say it.
• Telling the person when the topic of conversation changes.
• Cutting down on background noise. Turn off the television or radio during conversations. Ask for quiet sections in restaurants, and try to sit away from the door at theaters.
• Including the person in discussions and conversations. Don't talk about the person as though he or she isn't there.