[Closed] Hearing and speech discrimination in noise

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[quote=aracer ]The thing is I've always found conversation in noisy environments near impossible, whilst other people seem to cope. I hate noisy pubs as I feel shut out and end up having to ask people to repeat themselves several times - though even in quiet environments I find that happening. Yet I've had hearing tests and they've found no problem (not had one for a long time, but then I don't think my hearing has changed, and I've always had problems).
So does anybody else suffer with this and is there anything I can do?
I have the same problem. I put it down to too many years motorcycling. It's not too nad one-on-one as I can supplement my hearing through lip reading but trying to track a conversation between many folks, I struggle.

You're certainly not alone, I also struggle to follow a conversation in a noisy environment, Nightclubs are my own vision of hell TBH. I also must have "noisy ears" as I cant hear a thing whilst road riding other than constant wind noise (unless I turn my head, but then I cant see where I'm going!) similar story in the back of cars. Must have been born without that particular "filter"...

...and EH? YOOWOT?!

We had someone on the autism spectrum in for an interview and were told that he struggled with understanding what people were saying in a noisy environment (which our workplace is much of the time) - not a hearing issue but a data processing issue.

Aye - same here. Found that video hard and busy pubs/bars are a nightmare. I assume mine is linked to my tinnitus in some way but maybe not.

Yup - I have that - in my case it noise damage deafness / tinnitus.

It appears to be something to do with the processing / thresholds at which you hear. In a silent room I can hear a pin drop. I a noisy room follow conversations is difficult

Me too - drives my wife mad in restaurants.
I put it down to wrecking my hearing going to too many noisy gigs.

+1 here as well. Sat in a noisy pub i must look like the village idiot, just sat there grinning whilst not having a clue what anyone's saying.

I have similar trouble. Compared to my wife I need the TV on slightly louder, especially if there's even a slight bit of noise elsewhere. My mum's grandmother had severe age related hearing loss as she was pretty old, my mum's hearing's got worse, so I suspect there's something genetic going on here.

On the subject of cycling noise - I'm looking at getting some of those noise baffles for my helmet straps. Occasionally on a long road ride the noise will suddenly drive me bonkers.

[quote=theotherjonv ]+1 here as well. Sat in a noisy pub i must look like the village idiot, just sat there grinning whilst not having a clue what anyone's saying.

Which is the big issue. Maybe I just need to come out and say that I have problems with hearing?

I can't even think of any causes in my case - haven't been to many loud gigs or ridden motorbikes, and don't have tinnitus, and certainly had the problem when in my early 20s. Maybe genetics as my mum is extremely deaf, but then she's 87 (and hasn't really done herself any favours - still won't use hearing aids regularly and has usually lost them).

What type of hearing tests have you had. When my son was first being tested for stuff that was something we picked up in everyday life. They did a specific set of tests, over and above the usual one, to test for certain frequencies against background noise.

It is to do with sensory processing rather than the ear itself, I believe.

I've just had basic tests. The question is, is there actually anything to be done to improve it even if I do have more specialist tests which find something? I suppose a diagnosis might make me more confident about telling people though.

I don't know actually. My son's tests were a bit inconclusive. I would guess a hearing aid with some sort of filter!

I reckon that I spent too many hours too close to speakers playing repetitive electronic beats during my youth, because I started to notice the same thing from my early twenties onwards.

I cannot bear pubs with poor acoustics (tiled floors, open plan and with music slightly too loud for comfort), I'll go out of my way to avoid giving them my custom.

I think this is called cocktail party syndrome. Its basically showing up mild hearing loss. Hearing aids, in almost all cases, will improve the situation considerably.

I put it down to too many years motorcycling.

Same here.

It appears to be something to do with the processing / thresholds at which you hear. In a silent room I can hear a pin drop. I a noisy room follow conversations is difficult

Sensitivity at different frequences, I'd guess.

The audio file on this [url= http://www.hse.gov.uk/noise/demonstration.htm ]HSE webpage[/url] simulates the experience of noise induced hearing loss. I think there's nothing you can do to 'cure' it*, only stop it getting worse by using hearing protection and avoiding environments with noise levels which damage hearing.

* That said, I read some years ago that the US Navy was working on a treatment which would repair hearing damage for its personnel who work on the decks of aircraft carriers. I think the treatment involved an injection to 'revive'/repair the hairs inside the inner ear which detect noise (vibration) and which are what get damaged by noise induced hearing loss.

Same problem here. I've known for years that I have a loss of higher frequency sounds due to damage from working in noisy environments - mining and civil engineering. Dates from before there was any emphasis on ear defenders etc. I also have a problem with ear wax and narrow auditory channels.

Tried hearing aid, was of some use but had a problem with it getting blocked with wax so stopped using it.

Now find that I tend to avoid situations with background noise as I can't differentiate speech unless actually looking at someone. Even in the car I can't carry on a conversation because of the background noise. Drives my wife mad. I hate going out to places in crowds to the extent that I'm becoming a bit anti-social.

Same here, and it's getting worse - I attribute it to chainsaw use and age.

That said, I'm less and less interested in going to pubs & clubs and listening to people blah on about nonsense, so don't really care.

Same - too many loud gigs - really struggle to focus on just one sound/voice in noisy environments, it's like I'm hearing everything at once at the same volume

A combination of worsening tinnitus and Aspergers/being on the spectrum means I have no chance in noisy places

I on the other hand have hardly ever been to gigs and have spent very little time in clubs.

I'm quite good at accents and foreign languages, and reasonably good at deciphering garbled tannoy announcements though.

I too struggle with hearing the human voice if there's almost any other noise, probably a result of too many very loud gigs and working with farm machinery without ear defenders.

I'm getting there - pub acoustics are an issue. Gigs these days are definitely quieter than they were. Ears used to hurt, now you can hear people talking.

Yes!!! I have this problem. I was talking to someone about just last week. I have had hearing tests and have (at least did ) good hearing but picking out conversation in noisy environments I find very hard.

I put it down to the shit music on that video.

Im the same as the OP, can only get the odd snippet from that video.
It doesn't help that they're playing Coldplay over the video for some strange reason.
I'd like to think I have good hearing in a queit environment, but if there's background noise I struggle to "latch on" to the conversation.
Its probably because I went to see Motorhead in the 90's without any earplugs. That hurt! And I had ringing in my ears for several days afterwards.

I had a similar problem which was absolutely linked to deafness / tinnitus caused by a head injury a long time ago (that I did nothing about). Interestingly I found out that tinnitus was basically caused by my deafness, my ear making noise or something that I didn't hear the nurse say.

I now have a relatively discreet NHS hearing aid that resolves the majority of my tinnitus and has transformed my ability to keep up with conversation in busy environments and hear stuff properly.

Definitely worth getting your hearing properly checked, and doing something about it.

My issue os that my hearing is still acute/good, but I simply can't hear people's words in a noisy environment. I find it hard to make out song words too. By contrast, my wife's hearing is less acute, but she can hear conversations and song words more easily.

I have a similar issue but slightly different in that I "hear" all the conversations and struggle to isolate out the pertinent one in a crowded room. It's slowly getting better and has been attributed to a concussion so it isn't always loud noises. Having said that I also used to work offshore which isn't the quietest of places...

Same, two conversations going on and seperating them is difficult

[quote=johnhe ]My issue os that my hearing is still acute/good, but I simply can't hear people's words in a noisy environment. I find it hard to make out song words too. By contrast, my wife's hearing is less acute, but she can hear conversations and song words more easily.

That's pretty much how I'd describe mine. It seems like a processing issue rather than a problem with the physical workings of my ears (and as mentioned above I've not had the sort of exposure to loud noise others are mentioning - my high frequency hearing isn't good, but no worse than anybody else my age).

I guess I'll have a look at hearing tests - I've been aware of the issue for a long time, it was just that thread which prompted me to ask on here.

molgrips - Member

It appears to be something to do with the processing / thresholds at which you hear. In a silent room I can hear a pin drop. I a noisy room follow conversations is difficult

Sensitivity at different frequences, I'd guess.

Nope - its about processing. You have an effective threshold below which your brain ignores noise. When you have noise damage hearing loss this mechanism gets confused. think of it like turning up an old analogue radio on a faint station - you get to hear the radio louder but also the background noise gets louder

Probably a form of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) - everyone struggles more in background noise but some people are particularly poor. As said no real solutions as it's in the brain, if its any consolation everyone gets worse post about 40 years of age. Ho hum....ageing is super!

Lipreading is the answer

I don't think I've suffered hearing loss, but I do struggle to hold a conversation if there is background noise. Whether that is a noisy pub, or in a comms room with lots of background fan/air handling noise.

I also noticed recently that I hardly ever have to ask my wife to speak up when driving my van. The last van was noisier and practically every journey I'd have to keep reminding her to speak up (at which point she'd start yelling everything!) Its only taken 12 months to realise...

Always had this and it may have got me in trouble once or twice..

At a nightclub once with a few friends and ended up meeting an equal size group of ladies and we all kind of banded together for the rest of the night, few drinks and dancing ect.
During the night my friends all paired off, leaving me and the last of their group sitting together in the chillout area.
It was still quite loud as she leaned over and shouted something to me, followed by a rather hopeful smile.
I heard nothing. At all. I was not even looking directly at her so could not lip read either, so just replied directly to her optimistic face with a cheerful and confident 'Yep!' and wandered off to get a drink.

Unfortunately, according to my friend who was sitting nearby she had actually been fishing for a compliment from me and had said ' Aww, looks like you got left with the ugly one then, gorgeous'.

I felt quite bad as she was a lovely girl.. Swing and a miss 🙂

I have this same issue, and while I have tinnitus from a Grand Slam gig after standing directly in front of the speaker stack, I've had my hearing checked when I ran folding machines, which produced a constant 92dB, and I was told it wasn't any worse than an average 25-30yo, and I'm 63 this year! I did wear hearing protection, mind.
I never go to clubs, and any noisy pubs cause problems as well, but I'm having issues at work with my team leader, as he has a broad Bristolian accent, and talks very quickly and quietly, which is a problem when I'm in the back of the team Galaxy because I just can't hear a bloody word he says, and even if I'm stood next to him I keep having to get him to repeat things!

It sounds a few of you guys need a hearing test, not being able to hear conversation in a noisy environment is pretty typical.
Hearing aids will amplify the frequencies you struggle with- normally the high ones.
Good ones have directional mics that can be directed at the person talking automatically or with an app.

I have the same issue. Especially in Pubs and cafes etc with no acoustic deadening stuff like carpets and curtains in them I find theses places hard work where all the noise sounds the same.

I struggle with picking out voice on the smaller LCD TVs. I turn mine up and all. Hear is more harsh noise and still can't pick out voices.

Spent my formative yrs on chainsaws, woodchippers etc and dj'ing in front of 1000watt monitors! Always wore hearing protection but contracting you were always too tight to buy decent or replace helmets/ hearing protection.

There was a similar thread on here a while back, it was an eye opener for me at the time as I always seemed to be the only one struggling to hear people talking in pubs and clubs etc. I'm sure when I looked into it more I came across a condition with a fancy name that was more about it being the brain not processing the sound correctly rather than it being hearing loss related - I can't for the life of me find what the condition was called now though (it wasn't Cochlear Synaptopathy).

It might have been Central Auditory Processing Disorder related but don't remember it being such a mouthful as that - it was basically to do with humans have evolved the ability to distinguish speech as a separate type of sound to other noise hence why it doesn't usually get lost in background noise (which is often louder) but in some people the ability isn't very well developed.

It didn't seem like there was a treatment though, so like others I can on nodding/smiling/looking dumb/hoping not to offend people when they're talking to me in the pub...

aracer - Member
...So does anybody else suffer with this and is there anything I can do?

Needless to say I avoid those sorts of places. I simply can't distinguish words.

My kids used to reckon I have dog ears though - they would be conspiring in a room downstairs and I would be able to hear them while my wife couldn't.

I had my hearing tested about 4 years ago - no problems showed up.

My wife hates my choices of music too and reckons I'm always a beat behind if I'm dancing. I wonder if there's a relationship.

I think the problem is simply too many conflicting inputs.

So does anybody else suffer with this and is there anything I can do?

yes, and not sure, as that probably depends on whats causing it for you

I put mine down to being a bit ASD, like some have already said on this thread. Also sudden loud noises (my kids shouting, as they do) can be physically painful, OTOH I have generally good hearing and musically I can pick out individual things going on in complex pieces.

[quote=mrmonkfinger ]musically I can pick out individual things going on in complex pieces.

Yeah - I'm not too bad at that. Have just started playing in a band doing covers and surprised to find that I seem to do a better job of picking out bits from the original than most of the other guys (though unlike them I've not spent lots of years playing in loud bands, so my basic hearing is less damaged).

Could be ASD related I guess - I'm not massively afflicted with that, though like many here I'm sure I'm somewhere on the spectrum.

Carry on grinning vacuously and nodding it is then - though I'm tempted to try mentioning to people that I have trouble and see if that helps.

I can't tell one note from another. Equally hopeless with accents.

However my party trick used to be the ability to tell what the valve clearances were on various old British motorbikes just by listening to them ride by and I could pick out various noises that no one else seemed to hear.

I could pick out various noises that no one else seemed to hear.

That can be a curse.

[quote=epicyclo ]I can't tell one note from another.

Definitely not all suffering from the same hearing problems then - I'm far from the most talented musician, but when on form (as I was at band practice last night 😀 ) I can play a bit of tune I've heard back first or second attempt.

Another +1, can't hold any sort of conversation in a nightclub/party environment without someone shouting directly in my ear

molgrips - Member
'I could pick out various noises that no one else seemed to hear.'
That can be a curse.

Especially if you're Jeanne d'Arc... 🙂

I gave myself a hearing test whilst waiting for my turn at Specsavers. It said I was fine...it was just an automatic machine thing but I'm sure it errs on the side of caution to maximise the chance of selling me a hearing aid!

I'm much worse at this since I suffered a mild brain injury a few years ago.

Fuzzywuzzy has it, I read something about it a while back, and there is a certain condition to do with processing certain sounds in a background full of sounds of a similar frequency.
When it's quiet, I can hear a spider pattering across my bedroom wall, which can cause my heart rate to go up a bit, I can tell you, and I can hear a mechanical wris****ch ticking a couple of feet away.
I can pick out subtle background details in recorded music, but when things are just random noise, then I'm stuffed!
Voice pitch has a lot to do with it, too.
Still, it gives me a perfectly good excuse to avoid clubs and noisy, crowded pubs...

Another here. My hearing's tested annually at work and it's fine but I haven't a clue what people are chatting about in the pub. At night my watch has to go on the carpet! It gets louder at a certain point in a revolution (each minute I guess) and it bugs me. I can't have it on the bedside or even the chest of drawers across the room.

Edit: and I don't have a clue what most songs are about 🙁

@UrbanHiker

cocktail party syndrome

Some[url= https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120418135045.htm ] random article[/url] describes how it works

This inability to discriminate between speech and surrounding noise is affected by several things.

If environmental effects are constant then on an individual basis hearing quality and available concentration have big effects. Throw in hard surfaces, angular construction, and ceiling speakers and it just gets harder.

Deafness of any level will affect your ability to discriminate different voices from the noise as the signal becomes less distinct. Asymmetric hearing, where one side is less sensitive than the other, will also affect how you can discriminate and how easily you can 'focus' your hearing. Stereo adds information for your brain to tease signal from noise. And any symptoms of tinnitus will have a similar effect. This 'brain noise' obscures any signals in the same range. All of these have a concomitant effect on the available concentration you have to first discriminate the kinds of sounds of speech and then decode them into meaning.

Having tinnitus, some high frequency deficit in one ear, and finding crowds, parties and noisy restaurants exhausting is a recipe for me sagely nodding my head and offering random expressions to appear like I have any clue of what's going on in conversations.

Delete - linky no worky

Haven't read the whole thread but saw OP and a couple of posts, thought I'd comment.

I have very good hearing, my wife is pretty much half deaf (currently seeing ENT consultant about it), she has no problem hearing what people are saying, I always seem have trouble, especially in busy places.

I get the impression it's not just about your hearing, there's a skill/knack/something that helps you decipher what's being said that's independent on the function of your hearing

Deafness of any level will affect your ability to discriminate different voices from the noise as the signal becomes less distinct. Asymmetric hearing, where one side is less sensitive than the other, will also affect how you can discriminate and how easily you can 'focus' your hearing. Stereo adds information for your brain to tease signal from noise. And any symptoms of tinnitus will have a similar effect. This 'brain noise' obscures any signals in the same range. All of these have a concomitant effect on the available concentration you have to first discriminate the kinds of sounds of speech and then decode them into meaning.

This ^ is massively relevant to me as someone with severely impaired hearing in one ear*, I find it difficulty not only to pick out speech against background, but also have issues with any kind of directionality. It's also situation dependant for me based on the asterisk explanation below...

I often get to a point in noisy environments where it essentially turns to white noise and I'm left lip reading to fill int he blanks, fortunately I've been doing this since I was about 5 so most people who meet me don't notice, but also my wife is very adept at putting herself on my deaf side when we are out to help me out (she knows to get my attention by touching me on the arm or shoulder before speaking), it forces most people to address me from the working side or face on which helps massively, otherwise I can quite happily have a conversation with someone directly opposite me and be almost completely oblivious to someone (trying) chatting away to me on the deaf side which can be quite embarrassing, and actually very hard work and stressful for me as I have to continually be aware of checking my deaf side to make sure I'm not being inadvertently rude!

* I no longer have two of the tiny bones in one ear that are responsible for transmitting sound from the ear drum inwards, not only does this affect the amount I can hear, but it also affects the frequency of sounds I can hear, from what I remember of various tests I have a big flat spot in the 'normal' human hearing zone, but am still sensitive to certain very low and high frequency sounds, which is particularly annoying at times as with my 'bad' ear I can hear the TV/other electricals on standby from well over a room away, but if someone is speaking to me in that room I'll struggle to hear them, and I'm unlikely to be know what room they are actually in, or which floor of the house they're on, which normally leads to me running around the house trying to work out where they are 😕

Another sufferer here, but it's because my ears are super-sensitive and imbalanced.

Can hear really tiny sounds all the time and pinpoint it's direction really well in quiet situations, especially outdoors. Except from directly behind me, so riders behind do tend to sneak up on me!
When in a busy pub I hear every sound going so really struggle to filter out voices, especially the higher (usually female) ones.

I've had hearing tests done and my range is very good, equivalent to someone 10-15 years younger than I am. The audiologist did say my ear shape is very efficient at picking up frontal sounds, which explains the sneaky rider problem, and that my left ear is nearly double the sensitivity of my right. My brain compensates normally until I get overloaded with sounds.

I've noticed I'm getting less sensitive after having a serious concussion incident two years ago though (unconscious for a minute or two!) but seeing as I've had a few of those already I wouldn't recommend it as therapy 😆

e ear, and finding crowds, parties and noisy restaurants exhausting is a recipe for me sagely nodding my head and offering random expressions to appear like I have any clue of what's going on in conversations.

Went up to that Lunnon today, to move a daughter, she took us to what must be the noisiest restaurant I think I've ever been in, mostly loads of women of multiple languages chattering and having to speak louder and louder, lots of them talking over each other. I have exactly the same problem as the OP I expect it's surfers ear, lots of us that spend hours on the water have it, so I've never done much about it, but today it was almost painful so I downloaded this noise app to my phone, it registered 94 decibels.
Then I checked the noise in the workplace recommendations, as you do when you're bored and used to work in a business with machinery and they would come round and check, the result, their staff are at risk at that level, 2 hours is the recommended limit it seems. I insisted we eat up get the bill and leave once I'd managed to make myself heard. Handy little free app, can recommend it, not a lot they can do I guess at the restaurant, Lunnon's like that horrid noisy place full up with, well just about everyone I guess all trying to be heard over the others, steer clear is my best advice and lip read when necessary.

As with most people here I have the difficulty with background noise such that I choose to avoid noisy pubs and restaurants. I'm relieved to learn that I'm not odd.

Nope, my hearing is otherwise fine, but I have this problem too - to the extent that I find it massively stressful and aggression-provoking.

(I have misophonia anyway, and it's compounded when I'm overwhelmed by noise that I can't parse properly).

I avoid such situations as if my life depends on it.

Interesting thread. I've had this problem for as long as I can remember - certainly back to my 20's . I used to really struggle in nightclubs and would often ask people to repeat what they were saying. This would result in them shouting in my ear, which I still had trouble deciphering as it came across distorted. I'm sure I missed out on a few opportunities somewhere down the line.

In a quiet environment I can hear a sparrow fart and hear things my wife misses. I'm sure people think I'm being antisocial in busy environments but I just struggle to follow the conversation.