Your workplace has opted to promote teamwork and collaboration by opening up the office floor plan. But this new setup has become a struggle for you. It’s because the elevated 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 settings often serves as an early indicator of hearing loss, in spite of conventional hearing exams producing normal outcomes. You still may have trouble discerning conversations even with “Normal” hearing.
Significant brain power is needed to tackle the complex task of speech recognition. Optimal hearing capabilities are required to distinguish voices in noisy environments.
It becomes increasingly challenging for the brain to focus in on speech in noisy settings as we get older. Consequently, settings like bustling offices or crowded restaurants become mentally exhausting.
How to identify the early signs of hearing loss
Here are a few ways that early hearing loss can manifest:
- Problems understanding conversations in noisy environments.
- Distraction and decreased engagement in social interactions.
- Increased mental exhaustion as a result of heightened concentration needed for listening.
Hearing loss assessments
It can be especially hard to identify these kinds of difficulties when standard hearing diagnostics appear to show normal hearing. However, scientists are looking at innovative tests to diagnose early stages of hearing loss:
- The Eye Test: A special set of glasses is utilized in this test. The movement and dilation of your pupils can be tracked with these glasses. If your pupils behave in a particular way, it suggests that you’re concentrating a bit harder than usual. So if this tends to occur in crowded or loud areas, it could be a sign that you’re having to strain to hear.
- Monitoring Electrical Signals: The electrical signal sent from your ears to your brain is tracked by an EEG in this test. It will be a potent sign that you’re having some hearing difficulty if these signals change in a particular way when you’re in a crowded place.
Early intervention will be possible if these tests, along with personal observation, are able to identify hearing problems in their very early stages.
The benefits of early detection
Discovering even slight hearing loss early offers two considerable advantages.
- Mental decline associated with untreated hearing loss can be avoided with early detection.
- It offers clarity regarding difficulties faced in environments like open offices, alleviating potential aggravations.
Think about getting help if you’re having trouble understanding speech even with “normal” hearing.
Early detection assures timely intervention, enhancing total auditory health and cognitive function. Schedule a hearing exam today and investigate options right for you.
