Hurrah!!!!! Great news!!!!
A teacher friend lost her voice for awhile, had to whisper. Her school provided her with a wearable voice amplifier: a small microphone headset and a small amplifier box that she could wear on her belt or around her neck or place on her desk.
Bells went off in my head when I heard about this: Finally a solution for my struggle with my hard of hearing parents who would not wear their hearing aids!
I bought an inexpensive voice amplifier for $25 on Amazon. Sat down by my mom, switched on the amplifier and we had our first conversation normal conversation (no yelling!) in years.
Yelling is very dangerous: yelling activates the fight/flight hormone; even a cheery “Good morning!” when YELLED causes emotional agitation and anger. Being angry and care giving is a horrible dangerous mix!
No wonder why elder abuse happens when one has to YELL all day.
No more pleading or shaming or reminding Mom about hearing aids. I control my Mom’s ability to hear now. (I wear hearing aids myself. She has mild dementia and sometimes speaks into the amplifier box because she thinks it helps me to hear! She isn’t even aware the amplifier box is LOUD! Thankfully the amplifier faces the audience, my mom, and the sound is directed away from me so the loudness isn’t a problem for me.)
When she needs to see a doctor or has visitors I just hand the voice amplifier set to them. She’s is in our home in home hospice care now; her hospice team was so delighted to have the voice amplifier to use when talking with her.
So wonderful that she no longer has to fumble with getting her aids in, changing batteries, no more sore ears, ear wax control, shame of having her aids seen (hers are those big ones that look like a wad of Silly Putty).
Search “Voice Amplifier” to find one, prices range from $25, more for for wireless versions. Save your sanity for $25, returnable if you don’t like it...bet you’ll love it!
Unlike a simple amplifier, a hearing aid will amplify certain frequencies and not others. But that's not magic. That's what an equalizer does. People have had those on their stereos for decades. Every $10 smartphone can do the same.
I did use a simple amplifier like you did with grandma for a while. It did work. We stopped not because it didn't work. We stopped because she couldn't be bothered with it. So it's back to the yelling.