The holidays usually mean spending time with friends and family, whether it’s eating special meals or having fun at gatherings. All these traditional get-togethers are supposed to be fun, but having hearing loss can turn them into stressful occasions. It doesn’t have to be that way. With a little bit of advanced planning, you can enjoy your holiday gatherings without the usual frustration and stress. Just follow these tips.

Choose a Quieter Area

Just because the house is filled with guests, doesn’t mean you have to stay in the thick of the group. Pick out a relatively calm area of the party and mark that as your own, but invite others to join you in small groups. Choosing a spot away from the music can make the experience even easier. If you stay on the fringes of the action, you can still have fun and spend time with a lot of people, but you won’t have to strain to understand what they’re saying.

Ask Your Host for Help

By revealing your hearing problem to your host, they will be able to offer suggestions for where you’ll be most comfortable. They can also monitor the music volume and help to keep it lower, making it easier for you to hear and participate in conversations.

Give Yourself the Advantage

In the event you have a greater amount of hearing loss in one ear than in the other. Give yourself an advantage in conversations by positioning yourself with your stronger ear facing the crowd. When sitting around a dinner table, choose your seat accordingly. Sitting in a position where you can easily see whoever it is you’re most likely to make conversation with is key. Being able to catch someone’s eye means you can also read their lips, making conversation much easier.

Choose a Helpful Dinner Partner

If you’re going with a spouse or a friend, take advantage of this built-in support system and rely on them to help clue you in on missing bits of conversation. If you’re there on your own, find an old friend or make a new one and keep them handy during some of the evening’s conversation. Studies have shown that, for most people, lower voices are easier to hear, so choose an individual with a deeper, more powerful voice if at all possible.

Look on the Bright Side

Choose a brightly lit area for conversations, as this will make it easier for you to see your partner’s face and read their lips.

Holiday parties don’t have to be stressful as long as you put a hearing plan into place. If you have any questions about coping with holiday noises, contact us today for help.