Your workplace recently adopted the trend of open-office floor plans, promoting cooperation and teamwork. However, you find yourself having difficulties in this new configuration. It’s because the elevated noise is making it difficult to follow along with conversation and not because you miss the privacy of cubical walls.
Even if conventional hearing tests indicate totally fine hearing, the inability to hear conversations in loud settings is often an early sign of hearing loss. This suggests that having “normal” hearing doesn’t guarantee the ability to comprehend speech effectively.
Speech comprehension is a complex cognitive process that demands significant brainpower. Optimal hearing abilities are required to distinguish voices in noisy environments.
It becomes increasingly challenging for the brain to isolate speech in loud settings as we get older. Because of this, it becomes mentally fatiguing to be in loud settings like restaurants and busy offices.
Recognizing hearing loss when it’s in its early stages
Here are a few ways that early hearing loss can manifest:
- Increased mental exhaustion as a result of heightened concentration required for listening.
- When in noisy settings, conversations are hard to make out.
- Social isolation.
Hearing loss tests
Uncovering such difficulties can be challenging, especially when traditional diagnostics indicate normal hearing. However, researchers are exploring innovative tests to identify early stages of hearing loss:
- The Eye Test: For this test, you wear a special pair of glasses. The movement and dilation of your pupils can be monitored with these glasses. If your pupils react in a specific way, it suggests that you’re concentrating a little harder than usual. So if this tends to happen in crowded or noisy areas, it could be an indication that you’re having to strain to hear.
- Monitoring Electrical Signals: In this test, a device monitors the electrical EEG signals transmitted by your ears to your brain. It will be a strong sign that you’re having some hearing trouble if these signals change in a specific way when you’re in a crowded location.
Early intervention will be possible if these tests, along 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 benefits to early detection.
- Addressing hearing loss promptly prevents mental decline related to untreated hearing impairments.
- It provides clarity regarding challenges faced in environments like open offices, mitigating potential aggravations.
Consider getting help if you’re having difficulty understanding speech even with “normal” hearing.
Overall cognitive function and auditory health will be improved by early detection. Give us a call today and let us help you with any hearing loss you might have.
