Your workplace has decided to encourage teamwork and cooperation by opening up the office floor plan. However, you find yourself having difficulties in this new setup. It’s because the increased noise is making it hard to follow along with conversation and not because you miss the privacy of cubical walls.
The inability to follow along with conversations in noisy environments frequently serves as an early indicator of hearing loss, despite conventional hearing exams yielding normal outcomes. You still may have trouble discerning conversations even with “Normal” hearing.
The complexity of speech perception
Substantial brain power is needed to tackle the complex task of speech recognition. Distinguishing speech from background noise and focusing on particular voices amidst a cacophony of sounds requires optimal hearing abilities.
It becomes increasingly demanding for the brain to focus in on speech in loud settings as we get older. Because of this, it becomes mentally exhausting to be in loud settings like restaurants and bustling offices.
How to recognize the early signs of hearing loss
Here are a few ways that early hearing loss can manifest:
- Social isolation.
- Increased mental fatigue as a result of heightened concentration required for listening.
- Problems understanding conversations in noisy environments.
Testing for hearing loss
It can be especially hard to identify these types of difficulties when traditional hearing diagnostics seem to show normal hearing. However, scientists are looking into innovative tests to identify early signs of hearing loss:
- The Eye Test: A special pair of glasses is utilized in this test. The movement and dilation of your pupils can be monitored with these glasses. If you’re concentrating a little harder than normal your pupils will behave in a particular way. 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 tracks the electrical EEG signals sent by your ears to your brain. If these signals change in a certain way while you’re in a crowded or loud setting, that could be a strong indication of some problems with your hearing.
Early intervention will be possible if these tests, along with personal observation, are able to detect hearing problems in their very early stages.
What are the benefits of early detection?
There are two significant advantages to early detection.
- Mental decline associated with untreated hearing loss can be prevented with early detection.
- It reduces frustration by providing clarity about the difficulties of being in settings like open office plans.
If you’re experiencing difficulty following conversations in spite of “normal” hearing, think about finding a professional assessment.
Overall mental function and auditory health will be improved by early detection. Call us today and let us help you with any hearing loss you might have.
