Diwali is a busy festival celebrated with family members, friends and fire crackers. No other festival is celebrated with so much happiness and participation from all family members. Friends meet up their friends and distribute gifts and sweets. Fire crackers are lit up and the entire family jointly celebrates this fete.
Many hearing aid users are apprehensive to wear them for the fear of loud crackers. Fire crackers emanate a variety of sounds not all of them are loud bursts/ blasts. This article shall provide solutions and options to this problem so that you can continue to wear hearing aids even on a Diwali day. In general, as recommended by the Environment Protection act (1999), it is safe to maintain 3 meter distance from loud crackers. Apart from that use the following options and participate in the Diwali celebrations.
- Lower the volume when bursting crackers. Many wireless hearing aids today come with a volume changing option in android/ apple App. While non-wireless hearing aids may still have a toggle/ wheel to lower the volume. Make sure the volume is restored (switch off and then on) as soon as you get back to conversing with someone.
- Visit your audiologist and ask them to create a special program only for Diwali week. He can help you program your aids with a new program that maximizes noise reduction and reduces overall output. Use the program button or smartphone App to select this program. This will help you enjoy all types of sounds without a sign of discomfort.
- There are some users bothered a lot by all types of brief (impulse) noises –knock at the door, chopping vegetables, vessels and crockery noise while washing, blast noises etc. Hearing aid technology is now advanced to provide a solution to this small set of users too. This special feature called, impulse noise management/ control, is available with several manufacturers. Many users find it very comfortable with this feature on. This feature acts turbo fast on these impulse noises and puts them within the comfortable hearing range. In some cases it marginally improves speech understanding also, after all, speech sounds such as /k/, /t/, /p/, /t/ have a soft impulse noise in them. This feature doesn’t need a special program to be created and is on as long as the hearing aid is on.
Figure shows how short impulse sounds are controlled by a hearing aid
Now that we have learned of the ways to get rid of uncomfortable sounds, hearing aids are very important while conversations are on and family/ friends gather on the occasion. Those wearing two hearing aids will find it extremely convenient to follow conversations and won’t miss a bit. This Diwali, there is no celebration without hearing aids on.