Have you ever experienced headaches after being out at a social event? What about an inability to focus or process what you’re hearing? You may be experiencing auditory fatigue.

Auditory fatigue occurs when an individual needs to exert more cognitive effort or listening effort to hear and understand information. This is especially common in individuals with hearing loss.

When you are missing auditory information, your brain will use more resources to help fill in the missing information. It may rely more heavily on visual cues, body language, or context clues. Basically, your brain is working harder to hear.

When individuals need to do this more frequently, or over an extended period of time, they can experience auditory fatigue. This can present at feeling more stressed after listening, a feeling of being tired, an inability to concentrate, or even poor performance at work or school.

Recognizing auditory fatigue is the first step. Once you know what is going on you can take steps to address it. This may include an audiologic evaluation to assess for hearing loss. If hearing loss is present, appropriate amplification can be beneficial.

Utilizing other assistive hearing technologies can also be of benefit, especially in the presence of background noise. Good communication strategies are also paramount, including reducing noise in your environment, facing the person speaking, getting someone’s attention before speaking to them, taking listening breaks, or even using closed captioning on television.

Have You Heard The News?

A 2023 research letter looked at a study with approximately 3000 participants over a two week period of time and asked them to self report fatigue. Of those participants, 76% had diagnosed hearing loss.

Among those surveyed, individuals with hearing loss reported higher levels of fatigue on more than half the days and nearly every day compared to those individuals with normal hearing. It also reported that fatigue levels increased as the degree of hearing loss increased.

This held to be true even when corrected for demographics, lifestyle differences, and other comorbidities.

Source: Jiang K, Spira AP, Lin FR, Deal JA, Reed NS. Hearing Loss and Fatigue in Middle-Aged and Older Adults. JAMA Otolaryngology Head Neck Surg. 2023;149(8):758-760. doi:10.1001/jamaoto.2023.1328

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That's A Fact!

Auditory fatigue is more common in adults over the age of 40, especially those with hearing loss.

Take the First Step Toward Relief

If you or a loved one are experiencing signs of auditory fatigue, you don't have to navigate it alone.

Contact our expert team at Audiology Associates today to schedule a comprehensive evaluation and discover personalized solutions to help you listen with clarity and ease.