Just about everyone likes watching TV from time to time. Whether you only watch the occasional romcom or you frequently buckle in to binge your favorite show, it’s a great way to relax. While the perks of TV tend to center on the fun, people with new hearing aids might experience an extra benefit: better speech understanding and a smooth acclimation period.
How Does TV Improve Speech Understanding?
Like any skill, speech comprehension improves with regular practice. While it may seem automatic, your brain actively works to interpret every word you hear. When hearing loss goes untreated for a long time, this skill can fall to the wayside—a phenomenon known as auditory deprivation. But the good news is that with proper support, your brain can relearn and strengthen its ability to process speech effectively. That’s where TV comes in.
Watching TV with hearing aids is a controlled way to reintroduce speech to your brain. When your devices capture TV audio and send it to your ears, it’s much like running around Pinehurst Park to strengthen your legs. You can also turn on subtitles to help you follow along if you miss a word or sentence. This practice of reintroducing speech to the brain is called auditory training. Short exercises and audiobooks are two other standard forms of auditory training.
How TV Helps You Acclimate To Hearing Aids
In addition to improving speech understanding, watching TV is a great way to ease into the sound that your hearing aids provide. If you’ve been living with untreated hearing loss for a long time, you may have gotten used to the quiet. The introduction of all those sounds you’ve been missing, while wonderful, may feel odd at first. Watching TV gets you used to hearing more clearly before you go to busier environments like crowded cafes or spring festivals.
Pairing Your Hearing Aids to Your TV
If you have a smart TV, laptop or tablet, you can pair your hearing aids to the TV’s audio for direct streaming. Follow these instructions to connect to your TV, laptop or tablet via Bluetooth®:
- Put your hearing aids in pairing mode by restarting them or placing them in their case with the lid open
- Open the Bluetooth settings on your connecting device
- Click on your hearing aids in the list of devices
Different models may have different pairing methods. If these instructions don’t work for your devices, check their manual for pairing help.
Using a TV adapter is another great way to get clear sound right to your ears. Follow the adapter’s pairing instructions to connect to your hearing aids.
For any additional questions about pairing your hearing aids, contact Hearing Wellness Center today.