Your workplace recently adopted the trend of open-office floor plans, promoting collaboration and teamwork. But this new arrangement has become a struggle for you. Not because you miss the privacy of cubicle walls, but because the elevated noise makes it difficult to follow conversations.
Even if established hearing tests indicate perfectly fine hearing, the inability to hear conversations in noisy environments is frequently an early sign of hearing loss. You still may have trouble discerning conversations even with “Normal” hearing.
Considerable brain power is needed to carry out the complex task of speech recognition. Distinguishing speech from background noise and focusing on particular voices amongst a cacophony of sounds requires optimal hearing abilities.
It becomes increasingly demanding for the brain to isolate speech in noisy settings as we get older. Because of this, it becomes mentally exhausting to be in loud settings like restaurants and busy offices.
How to recognize the early signs of hearing loss
Here are a few ways that early hearing loss can manifest:
- Problems understanding conversations in loud environments.
- Increased mental fatigue due to heightened concentration needed for listening.
- Social isolation.
Testing for hearing loss
It can be particularly hard to detect these types of challenges when traditional hearing diagnostics appear to reveal normal hearing. Here are some tests being formulated by researchers to diagnose hearing loss in its early phases:
- Monitoring Electrical Signals: In this test, a device tracks the electrical EEG signals sent by your ears to your brain. If these signals change in a specific way while you’re in a crowded or loud setting, that could be a strong indication of some problems with your hearing.
- The Eye Test: For this diagnostics, you wear a special set of glasses. The movement and dilation of your pupils can be monitored with these glasses. If your pupils behave in a particular way, it suggests that you’re concentrating a bit harder than usual. But it could be an indication that you’re straining to hear if this happens in a loud setting.
These tests, coupled with personal observations, aim to identify hearing problems at their emergent phases, aiding early intervention.
The Advantages of early detection
Discovering even minor hearing loss early offers two considerable advantages.
- It alleviates frustration by providing clarity about the challenges of being in settings like open office plans.
- Mental decline associated with neglected hearing loss can be avoided with early detection.
Consider getting help if you’re having trouble understanding speech even with “normal” hearing.
Early detection ensures timely intervention, enhancing overall auditory health and cognitive function. Schedule a hearing test today and investigate solutions right for you.
