You wear your mask when you go out, sometimes more than one, and you typically don’t mind. The only trouble is, sometimes it’s hard to hear what other people are saying. Voices are muffled and even distorted when you go to the store or doctor’s office. At times, it’s so bad you can barely grasp a single word. Naturally, they’re wearing masks, too. However, the mask might not be the only source of your difficulty. The real issue could lie with your hearing. Or, to say it another way: those muffled voices you hear during the pandemic could be uncovering your hearing impairment.
Masks Muffle The Human Voice
Most quality masks are designed to stop the spread of airborne particles or water droplets. In the instance of COVID-19, that’s pretty beneficial because most evidence indicates that water droplets as a prominent factor (although the science regarding the spread is still being carried out, so all results are preliminary). As a result, masks have proven quite successful at limiting and stopping the spread of COVID-19.
But masks clearly can stop the projection of sound waves. Masks can block the human voice slightly. It’s not really much of a problem for most people. But if you have hearing loss and muffled voices suddenly surround you, it might be hard for you to comprehend anything being said.
Hearing Loss Makes Your Brain Work Overtime
The impediment of sound waves likely isn’t the sole reason you’re having trouble understanding someone wearing a mask. There’s more to it than that. You see, the brain is very good at compensating for changes in your hearing, up to a point.
Without you recognizing it, your brain makes use of contextual information to help you comprehend what’s being said, even if you are unable to hear it. Your brain will synthesize things like facial expressions, body language, and particularly lip movements to compensate for anything it can’t hear.
Many of these visual hints are concealed when someone is wearing a mask. The position of someone’s mouth and the movements of their lips is hidden. You can’t even tell if it’s a smile or a frown behind the mask.
Mental Fatigue
Without that additional input, it’s harder for your brain to make up for the audio clues you aren’t getting automatically. That means you’re more likely to hear nothing but mumbles. Even if your brain can, somehow, make sense of what was said, your brain will get tired.
Under normal circumstances, a continually compensating brain can cause significant mental exhaustion, often resulting in impatience or loss of memory. With masks in place, your brain will become even more exhausted (it’s worthwhile to remember masks are essential protection, so keep them on).
Hearing Solutions
The pandemic is revealing hearing loss by bringing these issues to your attention. Hearing loss typically develops gradually over time and may not have been noticed in different circumstances. In the early phases of hearing loss we typically don’t even detect it and frequently start turning up the volume on our devices (you might not even detect this occurring).
This is why coming in to see us on a regular basis is so important. Because of the types of screenings we carry out, we can diagnose problems with your hearing early, often before you observe it yourself.
If you are having a difficult time hearing what people are saying when they are wearing a mask, this is particularly true. We can help you find solutions to help you navigate a masked world. For instance, hearing aids can help you get back a lot of your functional hearing range and can provide other significant benefits. Hearing aids will make it a lot easier to hear, and comprehend the voices behind the masks.
Keep Your Mask on
As the pandemic reveals hearing loss, it’s crucial to remember you will need to keep your mask on. Masks save lives and are often mandated. One of the issues with muffled voices is that individuals may be tempted to remove their masks, and that’s the last thing we should do.
So make an appointment with us, use your hearing aid, and leave your mask on. These initiatives will ultimately improve your quality of life, and help keep you safe, as well.