Teens And Hearing Loss: 3 Strategies To Get Your Teen To Wear Their Hearing Aids

Health & Medical Blog

Teenagers have a desire to fit into the crowd at school, and it is common for them to balk at the prospect of having to wear their hearing devices in public. Unfortunately, this leads to missed opportunities for learning and the possibility that their inability to respond to other people talking may be mistaken for rudeness. You also have valid reasons to worry about your teen's safety if their hearing loss is profound. When your teen won't listen to reason, use these tips to get them over their refusal to wear their hearing aids.

Find a Role Model

Teens naturally tune out their parents, and it's possible that your child lumps your pleas for them to wear their hearing aids into the same category as when you remind them to brush their teeth. Therefore, it is more effective to find someone that your teen looks up to that will encourage them to wear their devices. Many people today live with some degree of hearing impairment, and recruiting support from someone that your teen thinks is awesome will help change their mind. Look toward a coach, a member of their support group or even celebrities to find someone that can be a positive influence for managing hearing impairment.

Get Their Devices Checked

There are sometimes easily correctable reasons for why a teen won't wear their devices. For example, a teen who has worn theirs for years may decide that the bright red casing they chose in junior high just makes them stand out in high school. Alternatively, your teen may be dealing with feedback when they are in a crowded cafeteria or playing sports in the gym. Taking them to see their audiologist and scheduling to have their devices inspected could reveal an underlying reason for why your teen keeps leaving them out, and fixing the problem could be the solution to all of your woes.

Up The Cool Factor

Today, you can get hearing devices that are connectable to Bluetooth and other forms of technology that make wearing them more fun for teenagers. Being able to connect to their smartphone using wireless technology also gives teens a way to transform the fear of being different into confidence that they have something to show off to their friends. Choosing options such as these also make wearing the devices more convenient if your teen complains that they interfere with their ability to enjoy television or talking on the phone due to sound discrepancies.

The good news is that most teens eventually adjust to wearing their devices and choose to keep them in their ears once they realize how much they are missing. Until then, keep up the detective work, and make sure their devices are comfortable and effective so that they have no excuse but to wear them during the day.

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28 February 2017

Help Others Make Health Decisions when They Cannot

One day I was playing a game of basketball with a friend, and the friend I was playing ball with tripped and took a hard fall to the ground. He hit his head hard, but he insisted he was okay and just wanted to go home and take a nap. I knew in my heart that he was not thinking clearly, and I didn't feel right letting him go home. I talked him into letting me take him to the hospital, and after some tests, it was determined he had a bad concussion. The doctors told me that if I had let him go home and sleep, things could have taken a turn for the worse. I created this blog to remind everyone to look out for each other after injuries. Not everyone thinks clearly after a head injury, and just being a good friend could save a life.