Tips to navigate hearing loss and communication during COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended our day-to-day lives and completely transformed the way we communicate with our families and friends. Because we are socially distanced, we are required to connect in ways we never imagined – via Zoom, telehealth and phone visits, and through masks while six feet apart.
Here are some tips for better communication during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hearing
Whether you are communicating with an individual with a hearing loss, or you experience hearing loss yourself, here are some simple things you can do to ease communication:
- Make sure you have your communication partner’s attention before beginning a conversation.
- Reduce interfering background noise as much as possible.
- When possible, make sure that both communication partners can use visual cues such as reading lips and facial expressions. When masks make this difficult, consider using a captioning application on a smartphone or tablet.
- Check for understanding throughout the conversation.
- If your communication partner doesn’t hear you, rephrase your statement – don’t repeat it.
- If you use hearing aids or a cochlear implant, ask your audiologist about ways to stream audio from video or phone calls directly to your devices.
- Ask your audiologist if you qualify for a free captioning phone.
Speech
Preserve your voice by following these tips for good vocal hygiene:
- Drink plenty of fluids free of excess caffeine or alcohol to keep your vocal cords hydrated.
- Take voice rest breaks if you have been talking for longer than one hour.
- Consider switching to texting or emailing, even briefly, if you find you are experiencing vocal fatigue from voice overuse.
- Use a microphone if you must speak at a loud volume.
- Avoid vocally abusive behaviors such as yelling, excessive coughing and throat clearing, or inhalation of smoke/irritants.
Hoarseness lasting for longer than two weeks is abnormal and warrants a visit to a laryngologist or voice therapist.
See information about hearing and speech services at Baylor College of Medicine and learn more about National Better Hearing and Speech Month.
-By Sarah Blumhardt, certified speech-language pathologist, and Dr. Laura Schadt, audiologist in the Bobby R. Alford Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at Baylor
Wondering about sudden bilateral hearing loss treatment availability. What are the current options?
Hello,
Thanks for reading. You can learn more about Baylor Medicine Audiology Services here: https://www.bcm.edu/healthcare/specialties/ear-nose-and-throat-otolaryngology/hearing-and-balance/audiology-services or call 713–798–5900 to schedule an appointment.
Best,
-Nicole