Celebrating Valentine’s Day with Hearing Loss

Hearing loss should never hold you back from living your best life, especially when it comes to spending time with your sweetheart, friends, and family — on Valentine’s Day and every other day of the year. Use these tips and ideas from the CaptionCall team and enjoy quality time together:

• Opt for a quiet meal at home. Best seats in the house, no long wait times or reservation hassles, and your order comes out just the way you like it. What more could you want? Best of all, you get to control the volume. Music can stay low or completely off, and you can have as much or as little company as you wish to invite. Staying in also offers an easy segue into other activities like playing board games, making Valentine’s Day cards, or having a movie night on the couch, with the perfect volume (assuming you don’t have to fight for the remote control).
• Choose a practical venue. If you’re set on going out, try to get a feel for where you’re headed. For restaurants, request a quiet booth or ask the hostess for an area that has less foot traffic. Look for a website or online reviews to see what others are saying and be wary of places with live music. There’s also an app called SoundPrint that crowd sources a collection of quiet places for you to choose from for your hangout. You may also want to consider something outdoors. If it’s away from major traffic and noisy strips on a map, mini golf can be a fun Valentine’s Day activity.
• Plan accordingly if you’re off for a Valentine’s getaway. Ahead of your departure, make a packing list that includes your hearing aids as well as any supplies that accompany them, such extra batteries or your cleaning kit. If it’s been a while since your last visit, you may also want to check in with your audiologist. During extended stays away from home, they can ensure that your hearing aids fit properly or assist with any necessary reprogramming.
• Communicate your needs to your Valentine. Whether you are seeing someone new, have been married for decades, or are spending time with a son, daughter, or friend, you may need to remind them about what will help you enjoy your time together. For example, if they are taking charge of dinner reservations, kindly remind them of seating needs and noise levels. The most important thing is to not get down on yourself and remember that your Valentine cares about you.

If you think you might choose to stay in this Valentine’s Day, check out our blog “How to Turn on Closed Captioning for Streaming Content”. Pick your favorite movie or a new TV show to enjoy and never miss a word with these instructions on enabling closed captions for popular streaming platforms.