Q: My wife has trouble hearing me when we go out to eat. What’s the best way for us to sit in a restaurant?
A: Hearing in a noisy restaurant is difficult for a lot of people with hearing loss. To set yourself up for success, you need to be sensitive of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The volume of your voice is the ‘signal’ and the volume of everything else in the resturant is the ‘noise’. You want her in the quietest seat in the house, preferably away from echoey surfaces. And if she’s wearing hearing aids, she should be seated with the crowd behind her, facing only you and the wall. A lot of hearing aids include dmicrophones, which emphasize what’s in front of you more than what’s behind you. If she doesn’t wear hearing aids, or they dhon’t have directional microphones, I’d recommend calling us to schedule a new technology demonstration. We’ll stimulate a noisy restaurant experience in the office, and she can experience for herself the difference they can make.