When we think of hearing loss, it’s easy to assume that people with impaired hearing would be less sensitive to loud noises. However, many individuals with hearing loss actually find that loud sounds can be surprisingly intense or even startling. This phenomenon is called recruitment, and it’s a common experience for people with certain types of hearing loss.
How Recruitment Works
Hearing loss occurs when the hair cells in the inner ear, which are responsible for detecting sound, become damaged or degrade over time. However, not all of the hair cells in the ear degrade simultaneously. As a result, some hair cells become damaged enough to cause hearing loss, while others remain healthy and continue to detect sound waves.
When a sound reaches a certain volume, the healthy hair cells that remain are “recruited” to respond to the sound in place of the damaged ones. These healthy hair cells are usually more sensitive and may react more intensely to the sound. This causes the volume of the sound to feel much louder and more jarring than it would for someone with normal hearing.
Conditions Similar to Recruitment
While recruitment is a common phenomenon in individuals with hearing loss, there are other conditions that can cause sounds to be perceived as unusually loud or bothersome. Two such conditions are hyperacusis and misophonia.
- Hyperacusis is a condition where sounds that are typically not bothersome are perceived as excessively loud and even painful. Unlike recruitment, hyperacusis can occur in individuals with normal hearing or hearing loss, and it may be related to damage in the auditory processing centers of the brain rather than the ear itself.
- Misophonia is a strong emotional reaction, often intense discomfort or even anger, triggered by specific sounds, such as someone chewing or breathing loudly. Unlike recruitment or hyperacusis, misophonia does not involve abnormal loudness or sound sensitivity. The cause of misophonia is still not entirely understood and seems unrelated to hearing loss.
It’s important to understand that while recruitment can be jarring, it doesn’t necessarily cause pain in the same way hyperacusis does. Recruitment is a reaction to the change in how sound is processed by the ear, whereas hyperacusis is a heightened sensitivity to sound intensity.
How Hearing Aids Can Help with Recruitment
While recruitment can be uncomfortable, the good news is that hearing aids can help manage the symptoms and reduce the intensity of startling sounds. If you’re experiencing recruitment, the best course of action is to schedule an appointment with a hearing specialist. An audiologist can test your hearing and fit you with hearing aids that are tailored to your specific needs.
Hearing aids are programmed to amplify sounds in a way that suits your unique hearing loss, but they can also be customized to address recruitment. Your audiologist can adjust your hearing aids to compress sounds in the specific frequency ranges that tend to trigger recruitment symptoms. This means that sounds that would normally be too intense or startling can be softened, helping you feel more comfortable in everyday environments.
If you already wear hearing aids but are still experiencing recruitment, your audiologist can make further adjustments to better manage this issue. These fine-tuned adjustments can minimize your discomfort and allow you to hear more naturally without the jarring effects of recruitment.
If you find yourself startled by loud sounds, it’s important to consult with a hearing specialist. With the help of hearing aids, you can alleviate the effects of recruitment and improve your overall listening experience. Evergreen Speech and Hearing Clinic is here to help—schedule an appointment today to discuss how we can customize a treatment plan that works for you and your hearing needs.