Adjusting Hearing Aid Settings for Noisy Holiday Gatherings

In a lot of Hastings homes, Thanksgiving weekend means a full house and the Huskers game on in the living room. Someone is calling plays from the couch while the kitchen gets louder with dishes and conversation.

The kids are running between rooms, and your sister is trying to tell you about her new job over all of it. If you wear hearing aids, that kind of afternoon can be a lot to keep up with. You might catch every play on the TV and still miss most of what your sister said.

Holiday gatherings put a lot of different sounds in one place at the same time. Your hearing aids have to decide what to bring forward and what to turn down, and they don’t always guess right.

Plenty of people end up turning the volume up, which usually just makes the whole room louder. Others step outside for a break or quietly stop following the conversation. With Thanksgiving still a few weeks out, there’s time to make sure your settings are ready before the house fills up.

Why Holiday Background Noise Makes Hearing Harder

Holiday gatherings put a lot of sound in one place. Someone is talking beside you, another conversation is happening across the room and dishes are clattering nearby. Your hearing aids are picking up all of it at once.

The challenge is that voices compete with other voices. Hearing aids do their best to give speech more emphasis, but they do not always know which person you want to hear. That is why following one conversation at a crowded table still takes more effort than talking with someone in a quiet room.

Your position in the room matters too. Sitting closer to the person you want to hear and farther from the busiest part of the room gives your hearing aids a better starting point.

Getting Your Hearing Aids Ready Before a Holiday Gathering

You don’t want your hearing aids to die right when everyone sits down to eat. So before people start showing up, give them a quick once-over. Are they charged, or do you need new batteries? Is there any wax on them?

A simple pre-gathering check might include:

• Charge the devices or put in fresh batteries
• Check wax guards and microphone openings
• Pack spare batteries or a charging cable if you are leaving home
• Bring the storage case in case you need to take them out later

How Directional Microphones and Noise Reduction Help

Directional microphones help your hearing aids give more attention to sound coming from a certain direction, often in front of you. If you are sitting across from someone at dinner, that may help their voice stand out from some of the activity happening elsewhere.

Noise reduction works differently. It looks for patterns in the sound around you and reduces parts of the background that are less important for speech. A steady furnace, ventilation system or room hum is often easier for the hearing aids to soften than several people talking at once.

Neither feature makes a crowded room quiet. They are there to make the listening situation a little easier, especially when you combine them with good seating and a shorter distance from the person speaking.

Trying a Program Made for Noisy Rooms

Some hearing aids come with a program meant for busy places. Depending on your model, it might be called restaurant, speech in noise or something close to that. Your audiologist may have set it up during your fitting, even if you’ve never tried it. If you’re not sure whether you have one, check your app or ask at your next visit.

These programs change how your hearing aids sort out voices from everything else going on. Many of them lean on the microphones that face forward, so the person across from you comes through more clearly than the noise behind you.

They may also turn down steady sounds like a running dishwasher or the hum of a crowded room. Every brand does it a little differently, so it’s more than just turning some sounds up and others down. Because these programs favor what’s in front of you, sit facing the people you’re talking with and keep the kitchen behind you.

If you already have a setting like this, try it out at your next holiday dinner. Give it a few minutes before deciding whether it helps, since it can take a bit to get used to the change. Still too noisy, or do voices sound muddy? Let your audiologist know.

Switching Settings as the Night Goes On

A gathering doesn’t always stay the same all night. Dinner might start with four of you at the table and turn a lot louder once people get up and split into groups. Most newer hearing aids try to keep up with those changes on their own, but they won’t always get it exactly right.

If your hearing aids work with an app, you can usually change programs or turn the volume up and down from your phone. Some apps also let you narrow the focus to the person in front of you or turn down background noise with a slider.

Many hearing aids have a button right on the device too, which comes in handy when you’d rather not dig your phone out. Pressing it usually cycles through your programs, and you’ll often hear a beep or a voice telling you which one you’re on.

You don’t have to fiddle with them every few minutes. Give your hearing aids a minute to adjust on their own first. If the room gets a lot louder or you move somewhere different, that’s when a quick change can help.

Using a Table Microphone at Family Dinners

Even good hearing aids have a harder time when the person speaking is several feet away. At a long holiday table, distance and several competing conversations make voices harder to separate.

Some hearing aids work with small wireless microphones that send a speaker’s voice directly to the devices. Depending on the accessory, you might:

• Place it near the middle of a long table
• Move it closer to someone who speaks softly
• Set it near the person giving a toast or telling a story

Where You Sit Makes a Difference

By late November, holiday gatherings around Hastings have usually moved indoors. Once everyone is packed around the same table, the kitchen, television, music and several conversations all start competing for attention.

Try to sit close to the people you most want to hear and away from the kitchen or another busy doorway. A seat with less noise behind you also gives directional microphones a better chance to focus on the conversation in front of you.

It is perfectly fine to ask the host for a different seat or suggest lowering the music during dinner. Most people would rather make a small adjustment than watch you struggle through the conversation.

Give Yourself a Break From the Noise

A noisy holiday gathering takes more concentration when you have hearing loss. You are listening to the person beside you while also trying to sort through several other voices, dishes and background sounds. After a while, keeping up gets tiring.

If you notice yourself losing track of conversations, step somewhere quieter for a few minutes. You do not need to disappear for half the evening. A short break from the noise gives you a chance to rest before joining everyone again.

You might also decide that you have simply had enough listening for one night. There is nothing unusual about feeling tired after spending hours in a difficult listening environment.

Have Your Hearing Aids Checked Before the Holidays

If your hearing aids have been harder to use lately, it is better to deal with the problem before the house fills with people. Maybe voices have started sounding muffled, the fit feels different or your usual restaurant setting no longer seems to help.

An audiologist can check the devices, look for wax or other problems and review how they are programmed. Real-ear measurement may also be used to confirm that the hearing aids are providing the intended amount of sound for your hearing needs.

Bring up the situations that give you the most trouble. Saying that you struggle to hear your grandchildren across the dinner table tells your audiologist much more than simply saying the hearing aids are not working well. If your devices offer additional listening programs, your audiologist can also explain whether one would be useful for busy holiday gatherings.

Enjoying Clearer Conversations This Holiday Season

A few small changes before the holidays can make a big gathering a lot easier to follow. Your audiologist can set up a program for noisy rooms or adjust how your hearing aids handle background sound.

At GL Wyeno Hearing Specialists PC in Hastings, Nebraska, we can check your settings and make adjustments ahead of Thanksgiving. Bring a list of the spots that give you the most trouble, and we’ll go over each one with you.

We’d like you to hear your sister’s news and still keep track of the game. Call us at (866) 904-1412 to schedule an appointment.