Julie Raney is a certified and licensed audiologist. She has a B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a Master’s Degree in Audiology from Idaho State University. She has worked as a clinical audiologist in Colorado since 2005. She specializes in hearing amplification for adults and delivers her services in both English and Sign Language.

Communication in Close Relationships

Think back to the time when you first met your spouse, how it felt falling in love, and how you could spend hours and hours talking about everything and nothing. When you first got married, built a life together, and shared the joy of parenthood, it was communication that kept your relationship strong. To this day you share how you’re feeling, listen to your partner with empathy and understanding, and enjoy spending time together. The foundation of a close relationship is good communication, and its what has kept you and your spouse close for all these years.

Hearing Loss in Close Relationships

When you have hearing loss, you’ll soon notice a change in your closest relationships. You used to share everything, but as communication becomes more difficult with your hearing loss, you aren’t able to have conversations like you used to. You don’t hear everything your spouse says, and sometimes they get frustrated when they have to repeat themselves over and over again. Maybe you can’t remember something they told you and it upsets them, but really you never heard it in the first place. These miscommunications can drive a wedge between you and your loved one, and your relationship starts to change. Resentment can creep in on both sides, and neither of you are feeling fulfilled by the relationship. Not only does your hearing loss affect you, it affects your spouse as well.

Hearing Loss and Isolation

When you’re not able to communicate easily with your loved one, you start to feel isolated and alone. You struggle to maintain the connections you care about, and you feel like there’s no on in the world who can connect with you. However, this lack of connection isn’t about the other people in your life, it’s all about your ears.

When you have hearing loss, you’ll have more arguments with your spouse, and a decrease is the overall quality of your communication. You won’t enjoy sharing hobbies, and even watching TV can be a contentious issue, since you turn the volume up far too loudly. You’re barely able to hear your favorite show, but your partner finds the volume unbearably loud. You used to love sharing inside jokes, but since you can’t follow conversations, it becomes harder to share both conversations and humor. When you do talk, it feels like you’re in a shouting match, and even if your partner speaks very loudly, you can’t quite understand all the words. All these small breakdowns in communication can lead to a lot of discomfort and arguments, and even if you’ve had a happy and healthy relationship, that harmony can be shattered by untreated hearing loss.

Restoring Communication

Treating your hearing loss can restore communication, and you and your partner can support each other, share details about your life, and have open and honest communication again. You won’t struggle to hear what your spouse is saying or interrupt them to ask what they said. With hearing devices that will help you hear conversations, pick up on speech, and make it easy for you to hear even in places with background noise, your communication will be restored. You can rebuild your closest relationship, and get back to enjoying all the little moments that make life so wonderful.

Treating hearing loss will reduce your stress levels, make it easier for you to focus on tasks, and give you more energy. You won’t be using all your attention just straining to hear, but can focus on the things that matter most, like enjoying time with your loved one, listening to music, socializing with friends, and spending time on hobbies. Treating hearing loss improves your closest relationships and improves your quality of life.