Top 5 Tips for How to Deal With Hearing Loss at Holiday Parties

The holidays mean family, friends, get-togethers, and cheer. This is also the perfect setting to experience “the cocktail effect,” as multiple conversations mix with background noises to become hard to understand. That effect magnifies for people with hearing loss. At Injoy, our team understands the issue inside and out (you should hear the conversations mix at our employee brainstorming sessions!). To help with those gatherings, we’ve come up with the top 5 tips for how to deal with hearing loss at holiday parties.

TIP #5: REMEMBER THE BASICS

Your family laughs over old stories and new ones. Music plays on the stereo in the living room, and a kids’ movie makes children squeal with laughter in the den. Dinner plates clink, the doorbell chimes, a cell phone rings—making the symphony of family gatherings.

Or it creates a cacophony for someone with hearing loss. Norman Rockwell never painted this part of a moment at home.

Your Injoy hearing aids will certainly help you hear more clearly so that you can participate in the fun! But when the group noise almost overwhelms, practice coping skills you learned—either with help or on your own—before you got your hearing aids. These additional techniques can surely help you deal with hearing loss at holiday parties:

Active Listening

Remember to focus your attention on the speaker and their complete message. Listen with intent, paying careful attention to the person.

That will mean not letting your mind wander to your cousin’s political rant across the room. Or that great holiday tune on the radio. Or your own thoughts building about what you want to say next.

Focus on the speaker, what they’re saying, and what it means.

Shorten the distance

Don’t try to have long distance conversations—like across the room. You may be at the hors d’oeuvres in the dining room when your sister, over by the fireplace, yells out “Do you remember when we…”

It’s ok to say “Hold on a second,” and approach the conversation. Position yourself within 3 to 6 feet, so that you can hear better, and share better. And if your sister is bringing up some old chestnut that’s embarrassing, feel free to say “Nope, I don’t remember that at all.” Works for us. #foiblesofyouth

Just remember not to get TOO close. If they can see inside your ear, that might be a tad intimate for the conversation. #justsaying

Visual cues for how to handle hearing loss at holiday parties

Remember before you got hearing aids? You used to watch a person’s face, their lips, and work that into what they’re communicating.

When the gathering is loud and even people without hearing loss have a hard time understanding, you’ve already learned this trick. Use it to your advantage.

Be honest about understanding.

Sometimes with hearing issues, we’ll pretend we understood what the other person said. We don’t want to admit the loss. Or we don’t want them to feel annoyed by repeating what they said.

We can honestly ask them to repeat, because we have trouble hearing over the noise. Letting them know we only ask because we really want to hear and understand what they’re saying and that just means we truly care.

To actively listen, you’ll have to work on ignoring distractions. It might not always be easy in a busy, loud environment, but it will be worth it as you share in making memories with those you love.

 

TIP #4: CONTROL YOUR LOCATION

When you’re at a holiday party, do what comes naturally. Position yourself for the most advantageous listening experience. That may mean finding quieter areas for conversation and perhaps guiding participants to that area.

It might also mean using your posture to help achieve better hearing. Turning your head in a specific direction as you listen, or putting more people between you and a distracting sound source—such as a DJ’s audio speaker. And put distracting sound sources to your back, so your hearing aids can focus on what’s in front of you.

One other idea for dealing with hearing loss at holiday parties: head for the couch. Conversations between people standing and people on a couch (or seated generally) become awkward. The natural disposition of people tends to converse near eye-level. So when you sit on a couch (if available), people will sit next to or near you to chat. Bonus: the couch works as sound insulation, naturally absorbing some of the ambient noise.

TIP #3: CHANGE YOUR SETTINGS TO DEAL WITH HEARING LOSS AT HOLIDAY PARTIES

One of the beautiful things about Injoy hearing aids is that you can change your hearing aid settings via our app on your smartphone. You don’t have to take the hearing aids out. Just open your smartphone app, and adjust away.

Check your filter settings, and make sure you’ve chosen background noise reduction. And you can check on the directional microphones and lower the volume of sounds from behind you.

Oddly enough, we don’t recommend increasing the overall volume, because a lot of human speech comes in lower frequencies. If you increase the total volume of your hearing aids, that could make the conversation louder but harder to understand.

If you have any questions about how to use the settings on your Injoy hearing aids, don’t hesitate to contact us! We can walk you through some custom tweaks to make your holiday listening experience the best it can be.

TIP #2: PREP THE PARTY

If you’re hosting the party, you’re in control. It’s your event / time to shine / celebration—do it the way you need!

If someone else is hosting, you can politely ask them to help make the experience better for you. Since almost 1 in 7 people suffer from hearing loss, you can rest assured you won’t be speaking just for yourself. Party planning techniques like these exist to improve the ability to hear more clearly at the event:

Round tables

A circular table lets all the guests see each other, and from a closer distance. This helps people deal with hearing loss by practicing active listening. It also allows the audio from each speaker to more easily reach everyone else’s ears.

If circular tables aren’t available, the host could set up circular seating arrangements with the tables/chairs. The host might also consider not using seating assignments if they were previously planned. This allows those 1 in 7 people deal with hearing loss at holiday parties by seating themselves in the best possible places for better hearing.

Good hosting means good consideration of all the guests.

Design the party with “spaces”

If everyone gathers in a single room or space, things can get loud! As a host, create other areas, with higher lighting and lower background noise sources, so that people who want to speak more quietly can do so.

If you’ve ever come back home hoarse-voiced from having to shout your conversations, you know what we’re talking about. Even people without hearing loss may like conversing in this quieter, well-lit space!

Consider paper & plastic

Yes, we all see glass and porcelain plates, and real silverware, as the “fancy” choice for parties. They look great. However…they’re loud. Clanky-clank loud. And they add a lot of sharp, staccato decibels to the noise of a gathering.

Disposable silverware and plates offer a quieter alternative. Plus they can add a decorative, festive look and feel as an additional benefit. Gold, silver, party-theme colors, and surprising sturdiness can be found in disposable party-ware, and you’ll do a service to those on your guest list who deal with hearing loss.

Related: where you need hearing aids.

TIP #1: OWN YOUR HEARING LOSS

One of the biggest challenges to holiday gatherings: being embarrassed by your hearing loss.

You have a right to enjoy these festivities too, to share in the news and the laughter and all the holidays can offer. Your friends and family want you to share it too!

So let people know you have hearing loss and gently ask for accommodations that can help you share in the fun.

You might be surprised to discover that when you own your hearing loss, and aren’t afraid or embarrassed to address it, you remove any social pressure on you and on others to try to ignore the reality. If the hosts can freely ask questions and seek your advice, they can come up with ideas to help you share in the joy, and feel good about doing it!

 

GET READY WITH INJOY EXTRAS

Ho ho ho, here we go! As you prepare for all your holiday gatherings, be sure to stock up on hearing necessities to get you through.

For example, if you use an Injoy hearing aid with traditional batteries, you should bring extra batteries with you to your events in case of an emergency. We’ve all been caught with a dead battery before! If you have them on you but don’t need them, there’s no harm and no foul. But if you need them and don’t have them, your holiday experience could be detrimentally affected.

If you own our rechargeable hearing aids, you’ll want to be sure you’ve charged them the night before the event. Your party probably won’t last a whole 30 hours of expected battery life (we assume), but a good charge can only help.. Recharging them the night before your event ensures your hearing aids will function all through the conversations, the laughter, the music, and the fun.

If you need to order anything, just call us at 844-55-INJOY! Put our number in your smartphone, and give us a call with any questions. Maybe you need a cleaning kit, or you want a second charger for travel so you can leave your main one at home. We’ll help you get what you need so you can enjoy the festivities with no worries!

MORE HOLIDAY EVENT HELP FROM YOUR INJOY HEARING AIDS

When you head out for holiday functions, your hearing aid functionality can help make it sound great.

Bluetooth connectivity

There’s nothing like a holiday concert! Songs you may know, beats that raise your spirits or remind you of those dear to you, it’s music that speaks to the heart. You might have a front row seat to the concert right in your ears. Your Injoy hearing aids have bluetooth capabilities.

If the concert is using bluetooth to send audio to the loudspeakers, or the single mic has bluetooth connectivity to a sound board/sound system, your Injoy hearing aids might just be able to accept the signal and literally “tune in” to the concert audio directly. It’s like your private performance!

Ask the concert venue about this connectivity. And if it’s available, use your smartphone to change that setting, and voila! “Do you hear what I hear?” Yes I certainly do.

Bluetooth: the sneaky holiday helper

We’re all going to pretend that we didn’t write this and you didn’t read it, OK? OK. Let’s soldier on.

One of the pluses of bluetooth connectivity is being able to connect to practically any device with bluetooth abilities. So let’s say you’re at a holiday event that’s more of a requirement than a desire. You’ve shown up as needed, you’re there as a sign of your support, and you are really enjoying this time.

Wait, what? Why are you smiling so much? It’s because you’re listening to the game. Or a podcast. Or a comedy routine. You’ve hooked up your hearing aids to a bluetooth source—your phone, your tablet, your computer, whatever sends out a bluetooth signal.

You might even be talking to one of your friends, family, or coworkers discreetly through your hearing aids as you endure the yearly torture. Or, uhh, rather—as you enjoy the non-elective festivities.

We know, we know, that’s some naughty-list information right there. But shhhhhh. It will be our secret!

Super-fast access to hearing aids

Don’t have Injoy hearing aids? There’s no shame in that game—we get it. Most people with hearing loss wait 7 to 10 years past the time they could have started using them before finally ordering this type of help.

That’s because nobody wants hearing aids. But a lot of us need them to enjoy more of what life offers. So let’s do this, yeah?

There’s no time like the present to get your hearing aids. When you order online, the process is so very simple, and we’ll be with you through it all.

THE PROCESS FOR GETTING YOUR INJOY HEARING AIDS
Take our free online hearing test. 

You should find out if you actually need hearing aids. You might not.

Schedule a consultation.

Let’s talk about you and your lifestyle, so that you can get the perfect hearing aids for your situation.

Order your hearing aids.

Choose what you want, including the color, and your preference for rechargeable or battery-powered hearing aids.

Receive better hearing in only 2 to 3 days! 

Even Santa respects that kind of speed. We know that purchasing hearing aids is not the easiest decision. But when people make it, they want that better hearing immediately. We make it happen.

Face-to-face virtual guidance.

As the hearing aids make their way to your doorstep, an Injoy hearing specialist will contact you to set up a consultation after they arrive. We’ll help make sure they function exactly as you want them to. And we’ll always be available to answer questions, help tweak settings, and if you want—listen to stories about how wonderful life became. We love those stories. It’s why we’re here.

You risk nothing.

You’ve got 100 days to try them out. See how they work at the family dinner. Or that office party. Use them whenever, wherever you want to hear better. We think you’ll be amazed and delighted. And if you aren’t, our 100-day money back guarantee makes sure you get every dime back. There’s nothing to lose, but a world of sound to gain.

HEARING FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Want to give a gift to someone who has everything—including hearing loss? Have we got the best present ever!

You may not have to know how to deal with hearing loss, but if someone you love does, you can give them Injoy hearing aids as a gift! There are people in our lives who know they can’t hear well, but for whatever reason—pride, fear, fiscal concerns—they haven’t gotten hearing aids to help them get back that part of their lives.

Ordering our hearing aids is super easy. And we can deliver to your address, their address, or wherever you would like. Talk to one of our hearing specialists and let them know what you’re thinking. We can do this together, and once your gift shows how much they’ve been missing, that’s a lot of holiday spirit for half the price of brick and mortar stores!

And don’t worry if they decide not to use the hearing aids. We have our risk-free 100% guarantee to ensure there’s nothing to lose. You, or the group you got together to buy these, will get all your money back. This guarantee puts the bow on top of your great gift idea.

THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING

Injoy hearing aids should last 3 to 7 years before they’ll need to be replaced. The Injoy limited warranty starts from the date of purchase delivery. It provides 3 years of repair, loss, and damage coverage for all hearing aid purchases. The warranty also covers 1 year of repair and 1 year of loss and damage for any other accessories or chargers.

Should an issue arise, call us immediately. Our licensed and dedicated hearing specialists will help you find a solution, and discover the best online hearing aids for your needs.

INJOY YOUR LIFE FOR THE HOLIDAYS, AND EVERY DAY.

These tips on how to deal with hearing loss for the holidays work wonders when combined with your Injoy hearing aids!

At Injoy, we create custom hearing solutions focused on your unique needs. We think our team is the best in the business, with expertise that’s helped people across the country, and service dedicated to helping you find best-in-class, affordable hearing solutions. Contact us, and improve your hearing and your life today!

We know you live an active, on-the-go lifestyle, and our cutting-edge features are designed to help you live it up to the fullest. Shop now, then listen. Hear. Live! With Injoy.