Is your loss of hearing causing you to talk less often on the phone? As time passes, you can feel isolated due to your hearing loss. You don’t need to stop using your phone. You can certainly discover methods to remain in touch with your friends and loved ones.
It’s All About Communication
With any relationship, communication is an essential aspect and the same goes for your phone. Can anything be done to enhance the situation?
- You can try accessories such as Bluetooth or headphones if the volume is already cranked up. It will make your phone sound better and it may be an affordable way to get what you need.
- Do the voices sound too soft? Look to make sure the volume is all the way up on the phone.
- Have you had a hearing test? Your hearing loss might not be permanent so it’s important to get a proper diagnosis. Temporary hearing loss can be caused by something as simple as an ear infection or earwax build up.
Once you rule out some of the more obvious issues, you can take a look at other solutions that will get you back on the phone.
There’s an App For That
Actually, there’s more than one app. There are some pretty cool apps that will get you comfortable being back on your phone.
Some apps turn what the other person says to text you can read. These apps don’t all work perfectly but they can be very helpful. Brands to look up include:
- Live Caption
- Note, Listen for Deaf
- Hamilton Mobile Cap Tel
Not all voice to text apps are free, but the majority are reasonably priced.
Phones Made For The Hard of Hearing
You can also buy a landline phone has similar functions as an app. By amplifying the sound an the other end, they make it easier to hear. High pitched sounds on the other end become clearer because they can equalize the sound.
A captioning phone is another alternative. The captioning service involves a unique phone that has a screen. when you have this service, the words are repeated or typed into software by a third party operator and are then shown on your phone’s screen. You will need the internet to use a captioning service.
Text-to-Voice Teletype (TTY) is an old-school phone system that is still available and works in a similar way to the captioning phone. It requires a TTY device that sits near the phone to display the text, though.
The Best Choice Are Hearing Aids
It used to be, whenever a hearing aid was near a phone, you would get ear piercing feedback, but those days are over. There are hearing aid compatible phones which eliminate background noise and other interference to enhance sound quality. Today’s hearing aid technology is compatible with these phones. Even when you are not using phone these wireless hearing aids still work.
An advanced program which enables it to be compatible with both smart-phones and landlines is a stand out feature of current hearing aid technology. You hold the phone up to the hearing aid and let the technology to work its magic by streaming the sound from one device to the other.
Bluetooth compatibility is also a normal feature of today’s hearing aid tech. You pair the phone up with the hearing aids exactly the same as you would with wireless headphones or earbuds. The sound goes directly to your hearing aids when it rings.
There isn’t any reason to allow hearing loss damage a perfectly good relationship. Do what you must to make up with your phone, and start talking again. It’s time to make an appointment with a hearing specialist to check out the newest hearing aid technology.