Is it possible that you’ve had a hearing check that showed normal hearing, yet you still experience difficulty following dialogue, especially in environments with a lot of background sound, such as crowded venues, eateries, or offices? If this is the case, be assured you are not wrong. The cause might be hidden hearing loss, which is an impairment in hearing that often goes undetected by standard testing methods.
This type of hearing loss is a real and growingly recognized medical condition. Experts suggest this condition could affect up to one-tenth of people who report hearing challenges. In spite of the lack of detection on standard audiograms, the listening challenges associated with this condition are very real.
Defining hidden hearing loss
In contrast to regular sensorineural hearing which is a result of harm to the inner ear’s hair cells (stereocilia)—hidden hearing loss does not affect the ear function in a typical fashion. The condition is caused by injury to the neural pathways, or synapses, between the inner ear and the auditory nerve. The transmission of sound from the ear to the brain relies on these synapses.
When these neural connections become compromised, frequently due to prolonged exposure to loud sounds, the signal transmitted to the brain becomes broken. It is similar to a weak radio transmission or a communication chain that has been broken: the message loses parts of itself on the way, particularly when the sound environment is busy with many conversations or background sounds.
Standard audiometric tests focus on pure tone detection in quiet, meaning they often fail to show issues with the brain’s processing of sound in real-world environments. Therefore, the very nature of hidden hearing loss is that it remains masked by standard, normal hearing test scores.
Symptoms commonly connected with hidden hearing loss
While a standard test result may be normal, a number of signs can point to hidden hearing loss. Recognizing these signs is the initial step toward getting the help you need:
- It may seem like people are mumbling, or you frequently miss important words or syllables in a conversation.
- Noisy environments tax you. It is very fatiguing to keep up with dialogue in loud settings, such as parties, public events, or restaurants, regardless of how much you try to focus.
- You prefer one-on-one conversations in quiet spaces. Your brain can process speech with greater clarity when there is less background interference.
- Even with clear test results, you continue to sense that something is amiss. Getting a passing score on a test can be confusing, not comforting, when you’re still facing hearing difficulties regularly.
