Intimacy isn’t usually the first thing that one thinks of when you think about hearing aids. We get it. These little devices are usually presented in rather concrete terms. Love, on the other hand, is something better suited for music, poetry, and art.
But you might want to begin viewing your hearing aid as an intimacy device because of the strong connection between your hearing and your relationship. After all, when doctors, researchers, and hearing specialists discuss “social isolation due to hearing loss,” they’re also referencing isolation from your partner. That means preserving intimate relationships will be just as challenging as trying to communicate with the clerk at the grocery store.
Hearing loss doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t enjoy wonderful relationships and deep emotional bonds. But it will be necessary to make some practiced adjustments and take some special care. If you’ve been losing your hearing slowly and over time, you most likely haven’t developed those additional skills, as a result, your relationships could suffer.
True intimacy, though, and improved personal relationships can come from something as simple as wearing a hearing aid. Here are just a few ways that hearing aids might have a positive influence on your love life.
Improved communication
It’s well recognized that good communication skills are at the core of a healthy relationship. Everyone will feel more appreciated and valued with good communication permitting stronger emotional connections and decreasing arguments.
But the difficulty becomes even more pronounced with hearing loss which can severely impede normal communication.
A hearing aid will help most rapidly in the following ways:
- You’ll catch more of those quieter, whispered moments. To put it directly, there’s no shouting in pillow talk. A hearing aid will foster more of those quiet, hushed experiences between you and your partner.
- You’ll have more energy for communication.When you experience hearing loss, speaking and listening can take a lot of energy, leaving you feeling exhausted. With a hearing aid, conversing can be fun and energizing again.
Your partner won’t have to be your translator
Going out with friends won’t be all that much fun when your partner spends most of their time repeating everybody for your benefit. Similarly, you won’t have a very good time if you can’t hear anything that’s happening all night. It’s easy to see how this arrangement could lead to resentment.
A hearing aid can help maintain your independence. You won’t rely on your partner to order food for you at a restaurant or repeat what everyone is saying at a dinner party. Additionally, it will be easier to continue socializing on your own! This means you’ll have stories and adventures that you can bring back to your partner, enriching your relationship in the process.
You’ll be more receptive to your partner’s needs
There are a lot of ways that hearing more might help make your partner’s life a little easier. Maybe you jump in and help with dinner because your hearing aids allow you to hear the cook timer sound. Or perhaps you ask your partner if they’re ok when you hear them stumble on the floor. When you hear your partner complaining under their breath, you have a chance to ask what’s the matter.
All of this might not sound like much of a big deal. But these little gestures, taken together, will demonstrate to your partner that you are compassionate and committed. They show you care. And that’s what partners are supposed to do! You will have a much easier time achieving this with hearing aids which will help you detect more discreet audio cues.
You won’t miss the power of a whisper
When you are dealing with hearing loss, particularly when you haven’t detected your symptoms, it may be difficult to recognize that you’ve stopped hearing those breathy whispers shared during romantic occasions. And part of the pleasure of being intimate, let’s be truthful, is those subtle, quiet moments. A hearing aid will let you enjoy the power of a whisper again. Which means you’ll be able to enjoy the intimacy of your partnership in a more powerful way.
Helping Your Relationship
To be sure, a hearing aid won’t fix every issue in your relationship. Nor is it impossible to experience romance with hearing loss. The point here is that a hearing aid will make specific facets of your love life more enjoyable and more enriching.
So when hearing loss gets in the way of your connections, your relationships can become dicey and it can be tricky finding a cause. A hearing aid can return needed intimacy to your relationship so make an appointment as soon as possible.