Hearing The TV

A comfortable listening level for someone who is hard of hearing is often uncomfortably loud for others. This is a common complaint from their family and unfortunately, the person with hearing loss often is not sensitive to it because they do not understand how loud it is.

Hearing aids are an important first step in addressing the situation but, very often an extra step is necessary. That is, if you sit more than, say, 8 feet from the TV, you might not be able to fully understand the words.

That is because the hearing aids' microphones can only capture speech clearly up to about 8 feet from the source of the audio, whether it is the TV or another person. The reason this occurs is that sound decreases and is modified by room acoustics as you move away from the TV.

Manufacturers of prescription hearing aids make assistive listening devices that connect to the TV and wirelessly transmits the audio into the wearer's hearing aids. You need to experience the effect to understand what a significant improvement it is.

We recommend that any hearing aid you buy, whether prescription or OTC, has the capability of connecting with assistive listening devices (ALD) that provide clear audio over distance to the hearing aids.

And ALDs go beyond just the TV; there are products that help to deliver clear speech in crowds or noisy spaces as well as other listening situations.

Check if the OTC hearing aids are able of connecting with ALDs for TV listening - and other situations. And if not, check if they at least have a telecoil, in which case products can be purchased from various sources and can achieve roughly the same benefit by using the hearing aid with a neckloop.