How Hearing Loss Interferes with Your Relationships

If you talk to a relationship expert, they will tell you the key to any successful relationship is communication. While there are other factors involved, communication is at the core of every solid human connection. 

When you’re dealing with hearing loss, your communication can be disrupted in a variety of different ways. Not only can that be frustrating for you, but it can cause problems in your relationships that you shouldn’t have to worry about!

Still not convinced? Let’s take a closer look at how hearing loss interferes with your relationships, and what you can do about it. 

Conversations can escalate quickly

When you don’t hear as well as you should, everyday conversations can become frustrating. The important thing to keep in mind, however, is that frustration isn’t just on you – it’s affecting whoever you’re talking to, as well. 

If you can’t hear what your friend, partner or family member is saying to you, you’re going to get frustrated with yourself. Unfortunately, it’s easy to let that frustration turn into anger, and you may start lashing out. 

Even if you manage to remain calm, asking your loved ones to repeat themselves over and over will get frustrating for them. If the problem persists for weeks, months or even years, their frustration may get worse. That’s especially true if you don’t seek out any kind of treatment for your hearing loss. It can make them feel as though you don’t care about that relationship enough to improve your communication efforts. 

Social events lack excitement

It’s not just one-on-one conversations that are affected by hearing loss. The things that you used to enjoy with your friends or partner might not be as fun anymore, either. 

For example, if you go to a party or your favorite restaurant, not being able to hear clearly can certainly put a damper on things. Not only won’t you enjoy the experience as much, but you might even be embarrassed if you can’t fully understand what people are saying. 

As you might expect, not being able to do things together with the people you care about can put a strain on your relationship, and lead to even more disagreements. You might even start to isolate yourself or avoid going to such events because they feel too overwhelming or frustrating. Obviously, that mindset isn’t good for any type of relationship, and you could end up pushing your friends and loved ones away. 

Everyday activities become more frustrating

If you’re married or you live with a partner, your hearing loss could affect your relationship without you even having to say a word. Maybe you have to turn the television up extremely loud to hear it. 

Or, maybe something is running in the kitchen while you’re cooking that is particularly noisy. If you don’t hear it or it isn’t loud to you, that doesn’t mean it isn’t frustrating to your partner. You may not realize you’re doing anything wrong. But, to who you live with, your actions can come across as inconsiderate. 

Sensing a common theme here? All of these situations can end in arguments and misunderstandings due to a lack of proper communication. If your partner approaches you about any of these issues, it can start the cycle of frustration all over again and you might find yourself arguing rather than trying to come to a peaceful solution. 

Treating your hearing loss for good

Treating your hearing loss is the best thing to do in order to avoid these issues. While hearing loss can occur for a variety of reasons, finding the right treatment solution to give you back a bit of your freedom is the important thing. More often than not, hearing aids do the trick when it comes to improving your ability to hear right away while protecting your ears from further damage. 

When you take action and make your hearing health a priority, you’ll improve your quality of life, as well as your relationships. If you’re tired of the miscommunication in your life and you’re ready to treat your hearing loss, contact Niagara Hearing and Speech Clinic at (855) 797-8002 to set up an appointment. Our hearing instrument specialist would be happy to talk to you about hearing aids and how they can help to improve your communication and strengthen your relationships.