The holidays have arrived! To get started, we dig out the decorations and the lights! We deck our homes with winter cheer, string up the lights and plug them in, shop for gifts and wrap them up, and plan the feast and call the guests. Then we sit back, relax and smack our heads. We forgot the food for the feast!

The holidays are a bustling time. With everything to plan for, overlooking a hearing problem is easy. If you are hearing impaired, you may miss a few words when someone at the other end of the dinner table speaks, or the background music will become blended with the sound of speech, making the words hard to understand. With a little bit of planning, though, these issues will go away.

Whether you are hosting or attending a get-together, the first and simplest thing to do is let everyone in the group know that you are hearing impaired. Tell them that getting your full attention before speaking, and facing you while speaking, will help you understand them much better. Also, try to gauge the environment, whether it’s your home, a friend’s or relative’s, or a restaurant. If possible, request that the background noise be kept to a minimum. Or utilize Roger or an FM system, which can make it seem as if the speaker is sitting right next to you and will help you hear well in environments where you cannot control the background noise.

Your loved ones want you to enjoy your time with them, just as much as they want to have a good time. While planning your holiday gatherings, feasts and get-togethers, take a moment to also plan on how to hear in those environments. Everyone will have a whole lot more fun, as will you!

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Staying connected to your loved ones is what makes the busy holiday season worth the effort. Whether you connect via telephone, video or in person, being connected is vital to your well-being. No one enjoys solitude during the holidays and suffering from hearing loss can often seem like its own form of isolation.

Social isolation can lead to depression and even cognitive decline and dementia. Our brains are similar to muscles in that they become weak with disuse. When we socialize, we exercise our brains in multiple ways, from recalling past events, to figuring out how something happened, to imagining a response to that age-old question, “What if?” Maintaining our social connections is important.

So, here are a few fun ideas to help you stay connected!

• The easiest way is to plan a gathering. Be sure to choose a place with minimal background noise that allows for maximum conversation time, rather than a movie theater or concert hall. But make sure it’s a fun place, perhaps where everyone can play games.
• Cooking is, in many ways, an act of love, love of the dish you’re making, love of the act of creating a meal and even the generosity of offering sustenance to loved ones. Why not plan for everyone to make a meal together that you will all get to enjoy? This is an easy way to share the love.
• And finally, inventing a new tradition can be fun, especially if you’ve just received hearing aids! You can combine your renewed ability to hear with a new, fun holiday outing. The trick for choosing what to do is to make it fun and novel, but also something that everyone will enjoy.

Maintaining healthy social connections during the holidays is definitely a fun way to live a healthy lifestyle.

The post Well Hearing is Well Being this Holiday Season appeared first on HearAgain Doctors of Audiology.

There are few technological innovations in the world that are as life changing as hearing aids. These tiny instruments have reconnected people with a vivid world they once thought was lost to them forever. Imagine being a child of 12 and learning that you’re losing your hearing; you might feel a little alone and scared.

That’s what happened to Elspeth Bowles. Elspeth had spent her young years having trouble in school and even at home because she just couldn’t hear anyone clearly. After getting a hearing loss diagnosis, her family was finally able to get her real help.

Help came in the form of hearing aids that allowed Elspeth to hear all the things she’d been missing out on. That also meant that she started excelling in school. Thanks to her improvement, she was accepted into university and she just graduated from the school of sociology in 2020. Hearing aids made a massive change in her life journey.

Then we have Phil Hilton, who had spent years avoiding phone conversations and social engagements because sounds were muffled and just too difficult for him to keep up with. Once he decided to have his hearing tested in 2016 and started using hearing aids everything changed. Phil had not had contact with his older brother since the 60s when he was 6, and his brother, who was 18 at the time, left for the army.

While building a family tree last year on a genealogy website, that brother found him and asked if they could connect on a phone call. A few years prior, that conversation would have been impossible for Phil. But with the latest leaps and bounds in technology, that conversation happened, a relationship blossomed, and now Phil has an irreplaceable bond with his brother that he will cherish all his life.

These are just two of the hundreds of thousands of stories of people that have changed the course of their lives because they were finally able to hear the world well again. During this holiday season, be able to enjoy all the joyous sounds and connect with loved ones through the gift of hearing.

The post Hearing Aids Change Lives appeared first on HearAgain Doctors of Audiology.

Make these soft cut out sugar cookies and enjoy decorating with family and friends!

Recipe by Georgie Bowers via allrecipes.com

DIRECTIONS

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together, set aside. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Gradually blend in the sifted ingredients until fully absorbed. Cover dough, and chill for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a clean floured surface, roll out small portions of chilled dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out shapes using cookie cutters.

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are barely brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Wait for them to cool before applying icing and decorations!

Prep: 20 mins Cook: 8 mins

INGREDIENTS

3 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teason baking powder 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine, softened 1 1⁄2 cups white sugar

Servings: 48 Yield: 4 dozen

2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

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