{"id":2182,"date":"2023-08-04T16:49:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T20:49:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/?p=2182"},"modified":"2023-08-04T16:50:00","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T20:50:00","slug":"what-is-hidden-hearing-loss-and-how-is-it-identified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/what-is-hidden-hearing-loss-and-how-is-it-identified\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Hidden Hearing Loss and How Is It Identified?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Having trouble hearing whether at work or when out to dinner with friends at 54 Restaurant is always a frustrating experience. Perhaps equally frustrating is scheduling a hearing test to check for <a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/hearing\/hearing-loss\/\">hearing loss <\/a>and having your results come back as normal, even though you still struggle to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This phenomenon is known as hidden hearing loss. Let\u2019s take a closer look at the condition as well as how to diagnose and treat it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Hearing Tests Work\u00a0 <\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"853\" src=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/iStock-1140556380-1280x853.jpg\" alt=\"Audiologist consulting patient about hidden hearing loss.\" class=\"wp-image-2185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/iStock-1140556380-1280x853.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/iStock-1140556380-350x233.jpg 350w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/iStock-1140556380-256x171.jpg 256w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/iStock-1140556380-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/iStock-1140556380-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/iStock-1140556380-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Standard hearing tests, also known as pure-tone audiometry tests, measure how well you detect certain frequencies of sound and plot the results on a graph or chart known as an audiogram. For most people with hearing loss, their results will show trouble hearing at certain frequencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, for people with hidden hearing loss, their audiograms show normal hearing, but they still have symptoms of hearing loss, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Difficulty focusing in noisy settings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hearing people incorrectly or having frequent misunderstandings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Needing to be in quiet environments to follow conversations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Doesn\u2019t Hidden Hearing Loss Show Up on Hearing Test?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Most hearing loss is caused by damage to the hair cells of the inner ear. However, people with hidden hearing loss don&#8217;t have damage to the hair cells but rather may have damage to their cochlear nerve. This is why the results of their hearing test are normal but why they still struggle to hear, particularly in busy environments with a lot of background noise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A study examined more than 95,000 word-recognition scores from hearing examinations. They found that many people had scores that were lower than would be predicted by their standard hearing tests and that those who struggled with word recognition the most were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nih.gov\/news-events\/nih-research-matters\/diagnosing-hidden-hearing-loss#:~:text=Yet%20some%20people%20who%20have,using%20common%20tests%20of%20hearing\">people with conditions known to significantly damage the cochlear nerve fibers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Diagnosing Hidden Hearing Loss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Because hidden hearing loss doesn\u2019t show up on standard testing, it can often be hard to diagnose, which makes it frustrating for those with the condition. As opposed to standard hearing tests, methods of diagnosis that may be more successful include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Auditory brainstem response<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Envelope following response<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Middle ear muscle reflex<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Treatment Options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While there is no direct treatment for hidden hearing loss, research is being done into medications that could be helpful. Additionally, talking to a knowledgeable audiologist to see if <a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/hearing\/hearing-aids\/\">hearing aids <\/a>or other assistive listening devices may be beneficial to you is helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lastly, try to avoid isolation and instead plan social activities that are in quieter environments whenever possible, such as going to restaurants during nonpeak hours or picking a seat in front when attending a lecture or other speaking event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To learn more or to schedule an appointment, contact <span class=\"company-name \">ENT Specialists Of Northern Virginia<\/span> today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><ul class=\"related-posts\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/what-should-i-know-before-getting-hearing-aids\/\" class=\"related-post\">What Should I Know Before Getting Hearing Aids<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/how-does-hearing-work\/\" class=\"related-post\">How Does Hearing Work?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/entnova.com\/what-to-know-about-unilateral-hearing-loss\/\" class=\"related-post\">What To Know About Unilateral Hearing Loss<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having trouble hearing whether at work or when out to dinner with friends at 54 Restaurant is always a frustrating experience. Perhaps equally frustrating is scheduling a hearing test to check for hearing loss and having your results come back as normal, even though you still struggle to hear. This phenomenon is known as hidden&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2182"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2187,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2182\/revisions\/2187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entnova.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}