By Dr. Susan Timna, Expert Hearing
Are you noticing that you cannot multitask as well any longer?
I know I am noticing the changes within myself. I used to be able to listen to two conversations at work while typing notes in a chart and finding the keys to my car. But now, my adult sons will try to talk to me from across the room amid music playing and my 5 grandchildren running around playing. They don’t understand when I don’t immediately answer them or ask them to repeat what they said.
Whether we like it or not, as time goes by, we slow down a bit so we can only tackle one thing at a time. It is a known fact that as our birthdays add up…we can’t process information as fast as we once could. The same is true for hearing speech. As time goes on, we can’t pull speech out from competing noises even with normal hearing. It goes without saying that even with mild hearing loss, this problem is exacerbated. We simply can’t keep up like we used to and that can be very frustrating as well as lead to social isolation and tension within your relationships.
In the past, testing hearing would consist of hearing a series of tones at different pitches you would have to identify as soon as you heard them. You were then told that you had a certain degree of hearing loss from mild to severe. But what did that actually tell you? Did it tell you how you function in reality – such as in your own home or social environments?
You don’t listen to tones all day long – you listen to speech and it’s usually not one on one, face to face, or perfectly quiet. It makes sense to test how you do in those harder situations!
There have been numerous studies brought to the forefront by Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic, and the Lancet Commission (to name few) about the links between untreated hearing loss and earlier cognitive decline. The lack of sound stimulating the auditory portion of the brain will force the brain to use other parts to compensate and therefore lead to more effort which is proven to cause earlier dementia.
So how do we look at the big picture of your hearing capabilities if we are just testing the tones you hear?
In the last few years, more focus has been on how you understand speech in noise and how you process the speech you hear. Staging hearing loss will be the future when evaluating your auditory functioning. This testing will consider not only how soft you can hear the tones but your processing speed, speech in noise ability, and your capability to hear the contrast between two different sounds. These results are used in the research and development of hearing devices approved by the FDA and they have shown to really help those that struggle in all of these areas. There are significant differences in various hearing devices, especially when comparing over the counter devices. It’s also a more efficient way to monitor the progression of your hearing deficits. Getting a baseline evaluation of all the areas will give you a starting point.
You may see the changes occurring in the speech in noise, contrast, or processing speed tests BEFORE you see the changes in the tones. Keeping tabs on and treating how you are aging in place could be the difference in a happy and engaged quality of life versus isolation due to the stress it causes you to be in a social setting. All of us want a happy, healthy, and fabulous quality of life.
Hearing loss is among the most modifiable of all the risk factors leading to earlier dementia (per the Lancet Commission). Lifestyle choices including physical activity, diet, cognitive engagement, social interaction, among others can also slow down progression.
Everyone should have a baseline hearing evaluation that includes all the tests showing the true picture of your auditory system. We see the dentist and eye doctor each year for a checkup. So…why would we ignore our hearing?
I realize that even though in my head I am “35 years old” – it is important to be proactive with my annual medical assessments. My engagement and health awareness will allow me to continue having those very important conversations with my sons surrounded by my loving family and 5 precious grandchildren.
For more information about hearing assessments, please reach out to me at susantimna@experthearingsavannah.com or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.
