Easter Enjoyment with Hearing Loss: Tips for a Joyful Holiday

Easter is a wonderful holiday. It’s a time to get together with family and friends; it’s a time to get spiritual; it’s a time to enjoy a break from work or even take a few days to get away from it all.

There’s no need to let hearing loss reduce your enjoyment of this special time of year. Whether you’re hosting a gathering, spending time with loved ones or hitting the road, here are some tips on ensuring you don’t miss a moment.

First, Enjoy Some Chocolate!

For many people, Easter eggs are the best part of the holiday. Who doesn’t like a bit of chocolate every now and then? 
What’s great is that chocolate is good for your hearing: A Korean study found that ‘hearing loss was significantly lower for those who regularly consumed chocolate’.¹
The benefits are likely due to chocolate’s antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which help guard against neurodegenerative diseases. Dark chocolate is especially good as it typically contains less sugar but more zinc and magnesium than milk or white chocolates. These can help guard against ear infections and noise-induced hearing loss.²

Then, You Can Break Bread

Easter meals are, for many families and friends, a time to come together. Few things are more enjoyable than these gatherings, so ensure you don’t miss a word by making a few simple preparations, such as:⁴

• Having a ‘quiet room’ without music or loud sounds for larger gatherings
• Seating any guests with hearing loss at the end of the table, away from noisy areas (such as kitchens) during meal times
• Keeping any background music to a low level
• Being considerate. If any of your guests have hearing loss, make sure you’ve got their attention before speaking to them, look at them as you speak and speak clearly.

Easter on the Road?

We know many families take the Easter long weekend as an opportunity to get away for a few days. Hearing loss isn’t an impediment to safe driving. Still, you can take simple steps to improve your safety, such as keeping noise levels inside your car down, setting up a ‘car’ mode on your hearing aids and activating your car’s audible alert systems (if it has any).⁵
Whatever your Easter plans are, Connect Hearing can help ensure you have a great time by checking or cleaning your ears, adjusting your hearing aids, and advising on how to protect your hearing and enjoy your holiday.

References:

1. National Library of Medicine (2019), Association of Chocolate Consumption with Hearing Loss and Tinnitus in Middle-Aged People Based on the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010–2013, National Center for Biotechnology Information (US), accessed 6 March 2024. 

2. The New York Hearing Center (28 February 2021), Dark Chocolate and Hearing Loss: Can One Help the Other?, New York Otolaryngology Group, accessed 6 March 2024. 

3. DoctEar (1 December 2022), Assistive Listening Devices for Churches and Houses, DoctEar, accessed 6 March 2024.

4. Healthy Hearing (12 December 2023), How to avoid ‘dinner table syndrome’ this holiday season, Healthy Hearing, accessed 6 March 2024. 

5. Healthy Hearing (29 December 2021), How does hearing loss affect driving?, Healthy Hearing, accessed 6 March 2024.