Guest author: Brynn N. Morales, B.S.

The final blog during Better Speech and Hearing month will focus on the main complaint audiologists hear from patients: the inability to hear in the presence of background noise. The first two blogs this month introduced (1) screeners to help determine if medical assistance is needed in the hearing assessment process and (2) pure tone screening tools. 

Hearing in the presence of background noise is difficult for everyone, no matter the hearing acuity. However, as Dr. Spoor often says during counseling, “Mother Nature’s cruel trick involves the fact that most people hear better in the low pitch region, where background noise naturally occurs.” To evaluate your ability to discriminate speech from background noise, try one of these two screening tools: 

• Nuheara: Using your computer, one can complete a screening similar to The National Hearing Test; listen to numerical digits with white noise playing at the same time and enter the numbers on a keypad. No payment is required, but the individual does have to put in Name, Age, Country, and Email address. AARP members can take the test via NHT’s website for free.
• Resound: ReSound, a hearing aid manufacturer, has a screening version that asks the listener to choose the pictures corresponding to the words said, while the background noise gets gradually louder. A shortened version of The National Hearing Test is also included.

If you take one of these screeners, or suspect you have hearing loss, contact Designer Audiology to schedule a comprehensive hearing test online or call the office at (301) 854-1410.

This concludes the May blogs, and we hope you have enjoyed the three-part segment related to hearing screeners. 

Dr. Spoor: A special “Thank you!” to Ms. Morales, our guest author this month.