Your Echo Audiology team strives to improve lives through patient-focused healthcare for all of your ear and hearing needs, but did you also know that we fill in as amateur relationship enhancers as well? Trust us, when studying we didn’t have courses in such a specialty but it would surprise you to learn just how many people come to us with complaints about their significant others having selective hearing, telling us they’re tired of repeating themselves constantly or even talking about misunderstandings that sometimes make us have to hide our laughter as we gently guide the partners to our hearing test equipment. In fact, a 2009 British study showed that 44-percent of people with hearing loss reported strife in their relationships! Read on to learn more about how hearing loss can wreak havoc on your or your parents’ relationships and how we’re saving relationships one couples’ hearing test at a time!
The Classic Selective Hearing Gambit
This one is all too familiar if you have a partner, are a parent or have parents- especially if you are doling out chores or asking for help! When the task remains undone, you ask why only to find out that the person you asked didn’t hear you. This is the selective hearing gambit, because most times you’ll see the person look away or towards the ceiling with their denials. With hearing loss, you might get a, “Yes, dear” or “Sure, whatever” and when you ask why it wasn’t done, you’ll have an argument on your hands. While it might be the perfect opportunity to tell your partner you’re taking off on a seven-day cruise, because you know you’ll get a “yes”, hearing loss is likely the cause of this form of selective hearing and the stigma of getting older is likely the reason they don’t want to check into it further. The cruise might be a much-needed break, but a couples’ hearing test would definitely improve your relationship for longer than seven days!
Television Wars!
When one partner suffers from hearing loss and the other person’s hearing remains intact, the simple act of enjoying television or a movie together can become a battle of epic proportions. The volume gets increasingly louder, usually when speaking parts are involved because voices can be difficult to distinguish. Once an action scene kicks in, the person whose hearing is in normal range might get blasted right off the couch! If you or your partner is constantly asking to have the television turned down and arguments are occurring instead of cozying up together- look to your team at Echo Audiology. A couples’ hearing test might save the day and the only time you’ll have to worry about a loud television is when you turn it up on purpose so you can feel the rumbling when Tom Cruise is attempting the impossible!
We’ve had a little fun with describing some issues that hearing loss can cause in relationships, but only because we know have the solution for you. A couples’ hearing test is a great way for you and your partner to start rebuilding communication so you can enjoy this time you’ve worked so hard for together rather than drawing lines on your battlefields. Take it from your amateur relationship enhancers at Echo Audiology: A couple who tests together, STAYS together!
