Game Day, Family, and Noise: A Room by Room Guide to Hearing Better This Holiday

by | Nov 2, 2026 | Hearing Loss | 0 comments

In a lot of Wisconsin homes, the holidays come with a soundtrack. The game is on in the living room. Someone is cheering. Someone else is groaning. The kitchen is full of clanging pans, the kids are wrestling in the basement, and three different conversations are happening around the snack table.

It is loud, it is happy, and it is home. But if you have hearing loss, it can also be completely overwhelming.

Noisy holiday gatherings are some of the hardest listening situations of the year. The good news is that a little strategy can go a long way. Here is a room by room guide to hearing better at your next family celebration.

Why the Noise Hits So Hard

The most common type of hearing loss affects high pitched sounds first. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, age related hearing loss most often affects the ability to hear high pitched sounds, while low pitched sounds are often unaffected.

Many of the sounds that make speech clear, like s, f, th, and t, are high pitched and soft. In a quiet room, your brain can often fill in what you miss. In a noisy room, those soft sounds get buried. Cleveland Clinic notes that people with age related hearing loss often struggle to understand speech in noisy places like crowded rooms.

A Room by Room Guide to the Holiday House

The living room: game central

This is usually the loudest room in the house. TV audio, cheering, and commentary compete with every conversation.

  • Enjoy the game here, but save real conversations for commercials or halftime.
  • Turn on captions so you can follow the game without cranking the volume.
  • Sit facing the room rather than with your back to the action, so you can see who is talking.

The kitchen: clatter zone

Running water, sizzling pans, timers, and a crowd of helpers make kitchens tough for conversation.

  • The Hearing Loss Association of America recommends staying away from a bustling kitchen when you want to talk.
  • Offer to help with tasks in a quieter spot, like setting the table.

The dining table: the main event

This is where the stories, toasts, and catching up happen.

  • HLAA suggests sitting with a wall behind you and toward the middle of the table so you can see more faces.
  • Ask if the TV can be muted and the music turned off during the meal.
  • Sit near the people you most want to talk with.

The quiet room: your secret weapon

Every holiday house has one: a den, a sunroom, or a corner of the porch.

  • HLAA recommends having one on one conversations in other rooms, away from the noise.
  • Use it for real catch ups with the people you rarely see.
  • Step in for a few minutes whenever you need to rest your ears.

Tips for Families

If someone in your family has hearing loss, a few small changes can help them feel included:

  • Get their attention before you start talking.
  • Face them and speak clearly, without shouting.
  • Turn down the game or music during meals.
  • Fill them in on a story they missed the beginning of.
  • Do not say “never mind.” Rephrase instead.

Why It Is Worth Getting Right

When gatherings feel exhausting, many people start quietly pulling back. They sit on the edge of the room, nod along, or leave early. A 2020 systematic review found that most studies linked hearing loss to a higher risk of loneliness and social isolation in older adults.

There is good news, too. In the ACHIEVE clinical trial, published in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2025, older adults who received hearing care kept on average one more person in their social network over three years compared with a control group.

When to Get Your Hearing Checked

If holiday gatherings feel harder every year, a hearing evaluation can tell you exactly what is going on. Signs to watch for include:

  • You can follow one person but lose track in a group
  • People seem to mumble more than they used to
  • You turn the TV up louder than others prefer
  • You feel worn out after family events
  • You notice ringing or buzzing in your ears

At Professional Hearing Care, we measure how well you hear across different pitches and how well you understand speech in quiet and in noise. If hearing aids are a good fit, today’s devices can be programmed for your hearing and include features designed for noisy places.

Enjoy Every Moment This Season

The holidays are about being together, cheers, groans, and all. You deserve to be part of every conversation.

Professional Hearing Care has offices across Wisconsin, including Mauston, La Crosse, Westby, Fitchburg, De Pere, Waupaca, and Wausau. Visit our Locations page to find the office nearest you and schedule your hearing evaluation.

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