Reductive noise headphones could contribute to the rise in hearing disorders observed in young people, according to British scientists.
- Five NHS audiology services report on the number of young people with hearing treatment disorder.
- It is a neurological pathology which affects the capacity of the brain to treat and identify sounds while hearing capacities are not affected.
- Many healthcare professionals argue that hearing treatment disorder could be linked to a repeated port of the noise earphones.
Sophie, 25, has difficulty identifying and understanding sounds in noisy situations while her hearing tests have proven normal. Examinations have revealed that it suffered from a neurological disease called hearing treatment disorder (TTA).
For its audiologist, the origin of these hearing difficulties may well be the excessive use of reductive noise headphones (up to five hours a day). And it is not the only one to point the finger at these very fashionable products when it comes to hearing health, according to the BBC.
Hearing treatment disorder: Antibruit helmets impact the brain?
In sound article Traling Sophie’s problems, the British media indicates that five audiology services of the NHS (Public Health System of the United Kingdom) report an increase in the number of young consultants for hearing problems. As with the BBC witness, the exams then reveal that their hearing is normal, but that the disorders come from their ability to treat sound.
Until now, hearing treatment disorder (TTA) was mainly observed in neurodivergents, people who have brain lesions or those who have had many ear infections in their childhood. But in recent times, patients diagnosed with a TTA are getting more and more out of these categories. It is these observations that lead health professionals to wonder about the role of a frequent port of anti -burning headphones.
Questioned by the BBC, Renee Almeida, clinical manager of audiology for adults at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, recalls that hears all the sounds around us, allows the brain to decide what it should focus on. She also confirms that her service meets more and more young people who have difficulty identifying and treating noises. “There is a difference between hearing and listening. We can see that listening capacities are declining”she says.
TTA and anti -burly headphones: research is necessary
Claire Benton, vice-president of the British Academy of Audiology, also noted an evolution in the case of TTA. And for her, it is very likely that filtration of everyday noise such as horns and open-space conversations with reducing noise helmets causes brain to sort in sounds.
“You have almost created a false environment by wearing these headphones and listening only to what you want to listen to. You don’t need to make an effort”she explains to the BBC. “These more complex and high -level listening capacities in your brain really end up developing only at the end of your adolescence. So, if you only worn antibruity headphones and you have lived in this false world during your adolescence, you slightly delay your ability to treat speech and noise “adds the expert.
The two scientists and a large number of British hearing experts are demanding more research on the effects of hearing health earphones and their possible link with hearing treatment disorder.
