Your workplace has opted to encourage teamwork and collaboration by opening up the office floor plan. But this new arrangement has become a struggle for you. It’s because the increased noise is making it difficult to follow along with conversation and not because you miss the privacy of cubical walls.
Even if standard hearing tests indicate completely normal hearing, the inability to hear conversations in loud settings is frequently an early sign of hearing loss. You still may have trouble discerning conversations even with “Normal” hearing.
Substantial brain power is needed to carry out the complex task of speech comprehension. Distinguishing speech from background noise and focusing on particular voices amongst a cacophony of sounds requires optimal hearing capabilities.
It becomes increasingly challenging for the brain to isolate speech in noisy settings as we get older. Consequently, settings like bustling offices or crowded restaurants become mentally exhausting.
How to recognize the early signs of hearing loss
Here are a number of ways that early hearing loss can manifest:
- When in noisy settings, conversations are hard to understand.
- Social isolation.
- Increased mental exhaustion as a result of heightened concentration needed for listening.
Testing for hearing loss
It can be especially hard to identify these kinds of difficulties when standard hearing diagnostics seem to reveal normal hearing. Here are some tests being formulated by researchers to identify hearing loss in its early stages:
- The Eye Test: For this test, you put on a special pair of glasses. These glasses can monitor the movement and dilation of your pupils. If your pupils react in a certain way, it suggests that you’re concentrating a little harder than normal. But it may be a sign that you’re straining to hear if this happens in a noisy setting.
- Monitoring Electrical Signals: The electrical signal sent from your ears to your brain is tracked by an EEG in this test. If these signals change in a specific way while you’re in a crowded or noisy environment, that could be a firm indication of some issues with your hearing.
Early intervention will be possible if these tests, coupled with personal observation, are able to identify hearing problems in their very early stages.
What are the advantages of early detection?
There are two important advantages to early detection.
- It provides clarity regarding difficulties faced in settings like open offices, mitigating potential frustrations.
- Cognitive decline associated with neglected hearing loss can be prevented with early detection.
Consider finding help if you’re having trouble understanding speech even with “normal” hearing.
Overall mental function and auditory health will be improved by early detection. Schedule a hearing exam today and look into options right for you.