When discussing an individual’s ability to hear well in noisy environments, it comes down to two things: hearing loss and auditory processing. Hearing speech in the presence of background noise is very difficult for individuals with a hearing loss. This difficulty can occur regardless of age, degree of hearing loss, or which hearing aid is being used.  

What is important to know is that hearing, and in particular understanding, speech in the presence of background noise is a complex physiological process. Wearing a hearing aid can improve the way sounds are presented to the ear, but it cannot change the way your brain processes the signal your ear receives.  

Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when hair cells in the inner ear become damaged. The loss of these cells affects not only the volume of various sounds, but also how well you understand or discern speech in the presence of background noise. The brain must pull out the desired speech signal from the excess environmental noise. This is called auditory processing, and it’s not only affected by hearing loss, but also age and overall cognitive health.  

Although wearing hearing aids in these noisy environments can certainly help the user, the situation is far from perfect. An audiologist can help patients understand why hearing in noise is so difficult and can suggest ways to improve the signal-to-noise ratio; either with different settings programmed into the hearing aid or by recommending a separate assistive listening device. Give the Hearing Center at Jacksonville Hearing and Balance Institute a call today if you’d like to make an appointment with your audiologist to discuss different options for listening in background noise!