How headphones and earphones can help with hearing loss
Are headphones outdated for hearing aid users?
As someone with hearing loss, I no longer use headphones for listening to radio, TV or music generally. They are bulky and untractive, they press uncomfortable on hearing aids and there is something better anyway. However, if you are interested in how headphone can help, read on.
Improving the quality of sound with headphones
Using headphones, plugged into any sound generating system certainly can improve the perceived quality the sound from radio, television and computers, etc. If your hearing loss is only moderate, it is certainly worth trying them.
When I say improve the quality of the sound, I really do mean 'quality' not loudness. With headphones the sound is significantly clearer, because the sound doesn't have to travel through air, and it is loss of clarity that most hearing-impaired people complain about, not so much lack of loudness.
Relatively cheap headphones are better than no headphones, but the more expensive ones with separate inputs for each ear, external noise reduction and sound level controls are naturally better, and are what I have used.
Headphones for personal use with a computer
All modern laptops have a socket to take headphones. This is particularly useful as sound directly from computer speakers seems far too quiet for me even when turned up to maximum volume.
Headphones for listening with others
Headphones are likely to be worthwhile for personal use in any situation. However, watching television and listening to sound systems can be social events in which hearing-impaired people like to participate with those with normal hearing who can listen unaided.
Unfortunately though, a major problem arises when headphones are plugged into the headphone socket of a sound systems: it normally mutes the external speakers. This means that although the person wearing the headphones can hear well, no-one else can hear anything at all. This makes listening with others impossible without the solutions explained below:
How to listen to TV using headphones without cutting off the sound from the loudspeakers
There are two straightforward ways of dealing with the problem of plugging in headphones automatically cutting out sound from the device's speakers.
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If you use a set-top box (Freesat in my case), it probably has its own socket for headphones. Plugging into this usually allows the television speakers to continue to function alongside the headphones which are driven from the box.
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You can buy a splitting device to plug into the TV headphone jack so that you have two output sockets from the one. Plug the headphones into one socket and use a small external separate speaker plugged into the other, so, again, getting two sources of output.
Ron Havenhand
*I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS MYSELF*
Noise cancelling headphones
Noise cancelling headphones are considered on the review of ear protection page.
Ear defenders
Ear defenders are considered on the review of ear protection page.
Disclaimer: The information on this site is for a lay audience and I cannot be responsible for errors or omissions. The views, strategies, advice and suggestions etc are based on my personal experience and are not necessarily appropriate for anyone else. They should, hopefully, stimulate individuals to develop their own strategies.