For people with hearing loss, restaurants can be a challenging listening environment when trying to converse with family and loved ones. In a recent article in the Washington Post, Joyce Cohen explains the frustrations often felt by many while eating out. Though it may seem like there is little you could do to improve your ability to hear in challenging listening environments, there are some changes you could make to help limit the effect of background noise.

1. Choose your restaurant carefully.  Modern restaurants often have high ceilings and hard cervices that often reflect noise instead of absorbing it. The more echo and reverberation present, the more difficult it is to understand speech. It is also important to choose a restaurant that has good lightening. Non-verbal cues such as lip reading, facial expressions and body language aid spoken language to help you understand others.

2. Booths are better than tables. The high backs of booths will block some of the environmental sounds that can drown out your conversation. In addition, booth seating is typically made of softer material that can absorb background noise.

3. Sit along the edges of the dining area. By sitting around the perimeter of the room you will avoid having outside noise bombard you from all directions and will allow you to focus on those you want to converse with most.

4. Sit Away from the Kitchen. Kitchens are often the noisiest places in the restaurant. Many open concept kitchens in modern restaurants give off noise pollution to the general sitting area. By choosing a place away from the kitchen, you are able to minimize it’s effect.

For more tips on how to deal with background noise and to learn more about your hearing loss contact Jacksonville Hearing and Balance Institute. Click on the link below to read Joyce Cohen’s article from the Washington Post.