ADVERTISING PROMOTION
he options are endless when it comes to boosting your hearing in noisy places and there are strategies you can use that don’t have to include hearing aids to aid your communication in these environments. Position yourself correctly If you don’t have any hearing aids, or you have older more primitive hearing aids, then positioning in noisy restaurants is crucial. Many people sit in the middle of the noise and are unable to hold a conversation due to the competing noises all around them. If you sit in a corner, or with your back to a wall, then there is no competing noise behind you. Instead, the noise is all in front of you and you can pick out the people talking at your table above most of the other restaurant noise as they are closer. If you have a hearing aid with a directional microphone able to reduce noises behind you then you would do the opposite. By facing the wall you minimise the unwanted noise source in front of you and your hearing aids will reduce the level of noise behind you. Use microphones linked to your hearing aid Another feature in hearing aids that can dramatically improve hearing in noisy environments are Bluetooth or FM microphones. Some come in a lapel mic form and others in a larger microphone format, such as disguised in a pen or a notepad. If it’s extremely noisy and you can’t hear anything then you can get whoever you’re speaking with to place the lapel microphone on their collar and it will pick up only their voice (no other background noise) and stream it via Bluetooth or FM directly to the hearing aids. If you want to hear more than one person, you can use the pen or notepad’s FM systems and place them down the other end of the table and they will pick up only the direction they are facing and send it back to the hearing aids.
How to hear better in noisy restaurants One of the downsides for people with hearing difficulties is that it can be hard to hear in noisy environments Use lighting Good lighting is also very important. We all rely on an element of lip reading to help us out when unwanted background noises are actually louder than the people we want to hear. Having good lighting on people’s faces aids this strategy. Use both ears! When someone talks to you from the side turn your head to look at them instead of tilting one ear towards them. Supplement your hearing with the visual lip-reading cues and maximise their voice to both ears. This is particularly important for those with
directional hearing aids as the hearing aids are only focusing on the sounds in front not the side. Get their attention Lastly get someone’s attention before you start talking to them so they are looking at you from the start of the conversation and you can utilise the visual cues. If they, or you, are looking elsewhere there is a pretty good chance that, by the time you do see their face, the context of the conversation will be lost. Grant Collins, owner and principal audiologist, Clarity Hearing Solutions
H E AR ING FAC T NO. 01
Some hearing aids you can’t see Clarity Hearing Solutions are your invisible hearing aid specialists. With five invisible styles from 15 manufacturers we have the invisible hearing solution for you (including ones free to pensioners).
Call 1300 CLARITY or 3366 7888
Lyric Semi-permanent invisible deep canal non-surgical implanted device.
OTE/RIC Micro behind the ear virtually invisible for any type of hearing loss.
IIC Completely invisible suitable for most mild to severe hearing losses.
AMP Deep canal instant wear virtually invisible suitable for mild to moderate losses.
For better hearing, the solution is Clarity.
Hope Island, Mater Misericordiae Health Care, 8 Halcyon Way
April 2016
CIC Powerful completely in the canal virtually invisible device.
Clinics Queensland-wide | www.clarityhearingsolutions.com.au
40