Imagine you are the only person in your family who can hear. It may have seemed unlikely until the Oscar winning movie CODA, (Child of Deaf Adults) turned the possibility into an award winning movie. Now imagine that you are the only person in your family who doesn’t suffer from some degree of hearing loss. This is a more likely reality with 1.5 billion people globally living with hearing loss according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Even if no one in your family suffers from hearing loss, yet, it’s important to be aware of the future possibilities. The best way to resolve hearing loss is to go and see a good, professional audiologist, like Clarisound. Helping your loved ones to restore their hearing, and their quality of life, leads to happier families.

According to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), UK, a dominant gene mutation that causes hearing loss can come from the mother or the father. The chance of passing on this mutation to your children is one in two. Dominant genes don't have the same effect on everyone. In one family, a gene can cause profound deafness in one person and mild deafness in another. Whatever degree of hearing loss you, or your loved ones, may be facing there are common situations that families face which can raise hearing, and other, challenges.

If you have ever heard your family member not reply to your question then the issue may be your hearing as well as theirs. Phrases like, "I can’t understand what you are saying when you speak to me from another room," may become common and words, and conversations, like these can be annoying, leading to a build up of frustration and arguments within families at home. (My mother just did exactly this while I was taking a break from writing this article!) Another common situation is that many of us sometimes speak when facing away from the person we're talking to. Remember that when you have hearing loss, it affects the whole family.

The failure to communicate effectively can create, or increase, relationship stress you don't need or want in your lives. Poor communication at work, due to heavy accents or poor language skills are common at work but if you do this, and keep doing it, at home then you may get a different reaction. Often people are too polite to speak up, or you only ever meet them occasionally but with your family members, especially if you are living at home, you will have a more personal relationship, more often. If you, or your loved one, are losing your hearing then wearing a suitable hearing aid at work and at home will restore your hearing and help you work on improving your communication skills.

Home is where the heart is, so if some of your family members are losing their hearing then wearing hearing aids is the best way to resolve unnecessary issues. It also means you will be able to go and enjoy a new award winning film even more!