With males more likely to develop a hearing loss, it’s essential to know a few things about why these statistics occur.
I deal with concerned wives and partners daily in our loving community. At Hearing & Balance Doctors, we’re proud to support family members of people struggling with an unaddressed hearing loss. We’re here to ensure your loved ones are taken care of.
Spouses and loved ones can end up suffering just as much, if not more, due to their husband’s hearing issues. It impedes communication, which is a cornerstone to any successful relationship.
Most likely, if his hearing loss is becoming more noticeable at home, then it’s likely to start negatively affecting his work life as well.
I want to help prepare you to approach your loved one’s hearing loss with compassion, by providing some helpful information and education on the topic, as well as essential tips to supporting them on their journey to better hearing.
With males more likely to develop a hearing loss, it’s essential to know a few things about why these statistics occur.
I deal with concerned wives and partners daily in our loving community. At Hearing & Balance Doctors, we’re proud to support family members of people struggling with an unaddressed hearing loss. We’re here to ensure your loved ones are taken care of.
Spouses and loved ones can end up suffering just as much, if not more, due to their husband’s hearing issues. It impedes communication, which is a cornerstone to any successful relationship.
Most likely, if his hearing loss is becoming more noticeable at home, then it’s likely to start negatively affecting his work life as well.
I want to help prepare you to approach your loved one’s hearing loss with compassion, by providing some helpful information and education on the topic, as well as essential tips to supporting them on their journey to better hearing.
Effects Of Hearing Loss On A Spouse
Hearing loss can cause detrimental effects and negative emotions between spouses.
- Resentment due to frequently compensating for a partner’s hearing loss (as in, serving
- as a translator and telling them what they didn’t hear)
- Loneliness, i.e., the healthy hearing partner feels they are missing out on companionship
- Curtailing of social activities, withdrawal from social interaction
- Decrease in intimate talk and/or joking with family
- Reduction of shared activities such as watching TV
Tips For Living With Someone With A Hearing Loss
This is something I get asked about all the time by concerned spouses. Experiencing hearing loss from the outside looking in can be a very frustrating position to be in.
There are ways for your husband to work around a mild hearing loss, such as picking up on visual cues or simply turning up the volume on the TV – but the longer hearing loss is left untreated, the worse it progresses.
Being supportive and patient are the two most significant things that you can do. Until your husband wants to get help and improve his hearing, you cannot do much else.
Trying to intervene too much can make him even more resistant to addressing this problem, but ensuring that you understand his challenges will create some common ground between you both until the time is right.
How To Talk To Someone About Their Hearing Loss
Your husband may give some backlash if you try to help; this is normal. It’s rare that someone is immediately open to the idea of getting help, especially us males.
Once your husband sees how patient you are and how much you care, he’ll be more receptive to taking your suggestions. It may be challenging for him to accept he has a hearing loss before he even considers treatment – so be sure to give your husband the time he needs to process his next steps.
- Address him during a moment of peace and quiet. Avoid having this conversation in the heat
- of the moment.
- Encourage him to visit a hearing care professional to answer his questions/concerns.
- Inform him that better hearing leads to less dependence on others.
- Offer to go with him to a hearing assessment. Or even get one for yourself as well. It’s never too
- early to start monitoring your own hearing.
- Share facts about how hearing loss can lead to cognitive decline, dementia, and other serious
- health problems if left untreated.
What Now?
To begin the road to healthy hearing, we always start with a comprehensive hearing assessment. This is a painless and non-invasive way to get a blueprint of your or a loved one’s hearing.
With the results from this test, we can identify the cause of hearing loss and what status your hearing is currently at. Armed with this data, we can develop a tailored solution to specifically address any individual’s hearing challenge.
You are never pressured into making any decision for treatment after a hearing assessment – we just treat this as an excellent first step to better hearing. What you or your loved one does with this information is up to you, and we’re here to support your decision no matter what.
You can schedule an assessment online or over the phone at the nearest location to you.
If you have any other questions on how to help your husband or another loved one, please call us anytime.
We are committed to supporting families in our Utah and Nevada communities and hope you and your loved ones can enjoy healthy hearing for now and always.
