Challenges with Hearing in Noise

By Susan Russell, Educational Audiologist

Did you know that everyone has trouble hearing in noise (even if they do not have a hearing loss and do not wear hearing aids or cochlear implant speech processors)?

Here are some places where everyone has trouble hearing:

Noisy restaurants, food courts, fast food restaurants
School gym
Concerts or loud sporting events
Parties or large family gatherings
Back seat of the car

I am sure you can think of many more.

Strategies for Hearing with Background Noise

What can you do to make it easier for you to hear when there is a lot of background noise?

Here are some suggestions:

When you are at a restaurant, choose a booth, if possible. It is also a good idea to sit far away from the restaurant’s kitchen.
When at a party or large family gathering and you want to hear and talk to one person, ask that person to move away from the rest of the group to a quieter spot so that you can talk.
Move closer to the person you want to hear.
Watch the person’s face closely to help you lip-read.
Ask the person to repeat what they said or say something polite, such as “Pardon me”
If possible, ask one person to speak at a time.
If the TV volume is loud, either turn the volume down or move away from the TV to hear the person you want to speak to.
Use an FM system. Peter from Phonak (who wears a hearing aid on one ear and a cochlear implant speech processor on the other ear) always brings his FM system whenever I meet with him at a restaurant. Sometimes he hears better than I do and I wish I had an FM system too ☺

As everyone can benefit from these tips, perhaps you might want to share them with your family and friends.

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