Hearing exercise – hearing re-training

As we get older many people struggle to hear clearly, often finding that background noises detract from the main sound that they are trying to listen to.

A good example would be, attempting to hold a conversation in the street with vehicles and other pedestrians contributing to the cacophony of sounds that interfere with the clarity of the discussion.

Whilst trying to turn back time and make the ears function in the way that they might have done in the past is impossible, many claim that it is possible to re-train the ear-to-brain hearing process to compensate for some of this hearing loss. Here are the tasks that should be adopted.

Firstly, and prior to any evaluation or hearing testing, make sure that the ears are clean and not clogged or blocked with wax. Have your ears checked by a doctor or audiologist to make sure that there is not a physical problem like a perforated ear drum.

Re-training your hearing system

You can use the following tasks or exercises to "re-train" your ear-to-brain hearing system. Be aware that, like all types of exercise, results take time, practice and repetition.

Task one

Start by removing any extraneous noises.

As an example, if you are watching TV and you can hear a washing machine or dishwasher in an adjacent room, turn it off or close any doors that will block out the sound. The objective of doing this is to train not just your ears, but your mind to focus specifically on the sounds that you want to listen to. This may be a radio, a TV, or someone that you are having a conversation with.

Doing this regularly and consistently will train your brain to focus on a specific audible channel and, over time, it will enable you to block out the other background noises automatically. In other words you train your hearing process to focus on what you want to hear rather than unwanted distractions.

Task two

When listening to music or watching TV, turn the volume down to the lowest setting that you can comfortably hear the dialogue with. This may require you to increase your focus and concentration, but that is the idea.

It trains your brain to maximise its concentration and processing on what you are listening to, i.e. it heightens your audible perception and understanding.

Task three

Reduce the volume at which you speak and encourage the people that you converse with to do the same.

This may seem like the exact opposite of what you would like to do, but again it focuses the brain on listening to all of the subtle sounds and inflections of speech. In other words, it re-trains your hearing-to-brain perception to be more alert and more precise in the sounds that it listens to and the ways in which it distinguishes and recognises them.

Task four

Appreciate silence. This does not mean accepting the fact that you cannot hear as much as you previously could, in fact quite the opposite. By spending time in silent pursuits, for example sat in a quiet living room or garden, you will actually start to hear sounds that you were previously unaware of.

Finding somewhere that is truly silent is almost impossible, but if you can remove all controllable noise you can start to listen through the superficial silence and you may be surprised at just how good your hearing is – and can become.

As an example, if you sit in a quiet room and, after acknowledging the peace, listen carefully, you will start to hear sounds. These sounds may be the motion of water being pumped through the pipes in your central heating system, the sound of bird noises, the sounds that buildings periodically make, or the sound of your own breathing or heartbeat.

What you are actually hearing is what has been there all along, but what your audio sensory system has, over time, blocked out. By reawakening this awareness it is possible to listen in a different way and to actually hear much more.

Task five

Task five is not so much a task as it is a series of things that you should try to avoid. Naturally not all of these "avoid if possible" situations are controllable, but if they are you need to take action.

Do not listen to music, the TV or radio at high volumes. Do not raise your voice when speaking. Do not talk to people who speak loudly or shout - ask them to lower their voices. Do not attempt to hold conversations in environments with lots of background noise, everyone struggles in these situations. Do not hold concentration requiring conversations in environments where there are lots of distractions, be they audio or visual.

Finally, constantly strive to reduce volumes, listen to quiet sounds and test your "quiet" hearing perception to its limits. By doing this you are persistently fine tuning your brain’s ability to process sound and over time you will find listening easier and more rewarding.