How Background Noise Affects Hearing Loss

Those dealing with hearing loss will find that their ears work differently compared to those with typical hearing, especially when it comes to background noise. The neurons of the inner ear work much more challenging when dealing with hearing loss, and if you are interested in learning why background noise affects hearing loss, read on.

When you spoke to a hearing instrument specialist about support for hearing loss, they would likely have told you that the inner ears work harder because they fight against all other noise. Imagine standing in a room with ten televisions switched on and being asked to concentrate on just one program – the inner ear cannot process the noise because there are too many distractions.

Even those with normal hearing would find it challenging to try to concentrate if they had to focus on one television among ten. When you are living with a hearing impairment, background noise amplifies the differences in your hearing. Messages between the inner ear and the brain are stilted and cannot be delivered appropriately, and that is where a hearing instrument specialist can step in to help.

Quiet environments work for all

Studies have shown that in quieter environments, the inner ear neurons of those with hearing loss and those with typical hearing worked the same way.

While previous hearing studies were done in quiet environments, the researchers measured various physiological markers in chinchillas in both quiet and noisy environments. Some of the chinchillas used in the study had normal hearing, while others had a cochlear hearing loss. Surprisingly, these studies were initially done on chinchillas! This is because they have a similar hearing range to human beings. During the study, background noise was used to stimulate the same thing people would hear in a crowded room.

In previous studies looking at the inner ear and how it processes sound, there have been failures in finding the connections between the hearing impairment and degraded coding in the ear’s nerve fibers. It’s these that transmit messages to the brain from the inner ear, and the difference is that quiet environments were used at the start. There was a marked physical difference in how those same nerve fibers respond to noise in loud environments.

The inner ear works to filter sounds through several channels. These are tuned to various frequencies, and it’s these channels that are varied on their frequency tuning. In typical auditory systems, channels are focused and sharp. With hearing impairment, those same channels become scattered and broader than they should be.

One of the most significant physical effects of hearing loss is that the ear’s nerve fibers are distracted by background noise. For those with hearing loss, background noise is much harder to hear and a hearing instrument specialist may work with you and your hearing aids to ensure that you can hear better. Quieter environments work for all, whether they are dealing with hearing loss or not.

Hearing aids could make a big difference

Hearing instrument specialists can work with you to ensure that you get the best from your hearing. When fewer auditory nerve fibers are working together to transmit sound, your inner ear works much harder. This hard work makes the ear work far less efficiently, too, and hearing aids can help with this. Hearing aids can help you to focus on the sounds – even through busy background noise – and they have been proven to help those dealing with hearing impairments to hear better no matter the environment.

With the help of a hearing instrument specialist, you could be wearing hearing aids and hearing at a variety of frequencies. Had you been able to focus sound better – remember we talked about standing in a room with ten televisions? Well, you’d be able to focus on just one at a time if you wanted to.

Usually, when we listen carefully, we focus our efforts on one source of the sound. We automatically filter out all of the background noise, and it is more challenging when you have hearing loss. With hearing aids used for the first time, you’ll hear everyday noises that previously didn’t bother you, and that can be overwhelming! Over time, you can rely on modern hearing technology to better reduce background noise and focus on individual sounds. You can choose settings that will help you to focus instead of finding that you are overwhelmed with noise.

For more help with your hearing loss, contact Hearing Well Matters today at (647) 247-2704.