Some people are very private, others are extroverts. Hearing loss, like any medical condition, is a very personal issue. Detecting and treating hearing loss are, more often than not, personal decisions that you take as an individual. Getting your hearing tested and starting to wear a hearing aid to restore your hearing, and quality of life, are tasks that many people avoid, or put off, until absolutely necessary. Sometimes hearing loss can be hidden and, despite much scientific effort, no one is sure how many people have hidden hearing loss.

Hidden hearing loss has been defined as hearing loss that's not detectable on standard hearing tests which focus on problems within the ear. In a research article in elife sciences, in January 2020, more than 100,000 patients who visited an audiology clinic in Massachusetts, USA, had normal results from their hearing test, despite complaining about loss of hearing. If you think that you may be suffering from hidden hearing loss then here are some signs to look out for, for yourself and your loved ones too;

• Preferring quiet places for conversations


• Hearing people incorrectly


• Feeling easily distracted or unable to focus in noisy settings


• Sensing that you have hearing loss even though you have passed a hearing test

For each of us, when we hear sounds, movement in the hair cells in our inner ear send signals to our auditory nerves. These signals must cross over synapses, which are the vital junctions between these nerve cells. Ordinary hearing loss can arise from damage to these hair cells, or the auditory nerve. Hidden hearing loss, however, often arises because of the loss of synapses in between. This causes the hearing signal to arrive incomplete, missing the information we need to interpret words normally. After a watershed study in The Journal of Neuroscience, in 2009, found that loud noises can destroy synapses in mice, further research concluded that humans with missing synapses may still hear the beep in a hearing test, even at a low volume that someone with cell, or nerve damage, does not. This means that if you, or your loved one, take a FREE Online hearing test, and pass, it is still a good idea to visit a good, professional audiologist like Clarisound for a thorough check up.

Aging is a general cause of hearing loss and then there is exposure to high levels of noise too. Noise pollution and aging are two of the usual suspects that can combine to aggravate hearing loss. “Most researchers feel that long exposures to even low-level noise may cause hidden hearing loss and most agree that the aging auditory system reveals this problem. We lose some synapses as we age,” said Dr. Catherine Palmer, Director of Audiology and Hearing Aids at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

There are also less common causes of hearing loss and hidden hearing loss. Another possible cause could be problems with the cells that make myelin, a substance that insulates our brain cells in the ear. Autoimmune disorders linked to flu and hepatitis also attack myelin.

Whatever the cause, or causes, of your hearing loss, you and your loved ones are always better off visiting a good, professional audiologist like Clarisound for a thorough hearing check. Please don’t hesitate to book an appointment online with one of our friendly, professional audiologists at Clarisound. We won’t hide your hearing loss from you.