Group conversation at restaurant
EARGO LIFESTYLE

CONVERSATIONS IN NOISY ENVIRONMENTS

BY TRISHA TATMAN - MAY 11, 2022

 

 

Conversations amid noise can be a struggle for anybody, especially for those with hearing loss in the high-frequency range. This type of hearing loss is the most common and can present itself as being able to hear low-frequency sounds (deeper sounds like bass, or deep voices) much better than speech. This makes higher-pitched voices, female voices, and those of children even harder to hear. 

There are many sounds across the frequency spectrum competing with one another for your attention, and most background noises occur at lower frequencies. When speech is layered on top of this in the higher frequency ranges, hearing and engaging in conversations in noisy environments becomes quite the challenge—even for those without hearing loss. While wearing Eargos (or any hearing aid geared towards high-frequency loss) can assist with hearing better in these situations, sometimes adjustments are needed to ensure the best results. No two people’s hearing loss is exactly the same, and that’s where our licensed professionals can help.

While most people may have success with Eargo’s default settings, it’s not uncommon to make little adjustments for specific situations. Our friend Dave*, an Eargo client, serves as a prime example of someone requiring a little help that goes beyond Eargo’s default settings.

During one of Dave and his wife’s weekly outings to their favorite Mexican restaurant,  Dave was having more and more trouble hearing and understanding her due to the surrounding noise. Though Dave would wear his Eargos to dinner and use the Restaurant Program, he would only have limited success. He reached out to us for help, as this was an important situation to him—imagine not being able to fully engage in conversation with a loved one! Dave described the situation and his frustration, explaining exactly how he was using his Eargos and what he wanted to get out of them in this scenario. We discussed a few options and I suggested that he make some adjustments to the Restaurant Program through our mobile app. I walked him through making the adjustments: Program tab → orange edit pencil → Restaurant Program → Sound Tuning. I suggested that he decrease the bass 1x to address the background noise, and if that didn’t help then increase the treble to help clarify speech. 

I’m happy to say that this worked like a charm! The reduction in bass was all that Dave needed to make conversations easier to follow. He’s no longer struggling to engage with his wife and they are back to fully enjoying their weekly dinners.

If you feel like you aren’t getting the most out of your Eargos and would like help adjusting them, please reach out to our team of licensed hearing professionals via email at support@eargo.com, via phone at 1 (800) 903-6883, or through the mobile app. We’re here to help you hear life to the fullest!