Can you hear me now, Noblesville?

Pandemic masking highlights undiagnosed hearing loss

By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com

Across the nation and right here in Hamilton County, Beltone is seeing a rise in patients who did not know they were struggling with hearing loss.

Many new Noblesville Beltone patients had thought they did not read lips or have hearing issues pre-COVID, but mandated masks illustrated that they may in fact have mild or moderate hearing loss and simply did not realize it because they had been compensating unconsciously.

The Reporter spoke to Beltone Hearing Instrument Specialist Kara Horniacek about what she is seeing in patients in Noblesville and beyond.

“It’s definitely something we are seeing a lot of,” Horniacek said. “We are seeing a lot more people of a younger generation come through our doors. Masking during the pandemic made a lot of people realize not only how much they rely on lip reading as part of a coping mechanism, but the masks themselves also dampen the sound from a person’s mouth. So it’s really kind of twofold.”

Now that we are getting back into life and the masks aren’t as necessary and people are meeting in person more often than on the computer, some are noticing that there are challenges in a world where you don’t have a volume control at your fingertips.

Horniacek said roughly 30 to 40 percent of people coming in are mentioning that they didn’t know they had a hearing issue until either during the pandemic when the masks were on or now that they are meeting people in environments without volume control.

“Often it’s people who really had a hard time with conversations when masking was a mandatory thing,” Horniacek said. “If you were really struggling in social situations with the masks and you found yourself avoiding them entirely because it was more difficult than it was beneficial for you. That’s one hallmark of it. Also, the people who really utilized the volume control on their Zoom meetings and now that they don’t have access to that anymore are struggling in in-person settings.”

Horniacek said she is not surprised that people who come in with moderate hearing loss did not notice until the pandemic, but the number of people with mild hearing loss who had been unknowingly compensating through lip reading and using volume controls during remote work does surprise her.

“It has really taken the pandemic and the masking for them to take notice of it,” Horniacek said.

Hearing evaluations are free. Call (317) 770-9999 or click here. You can also stop by the office at 247 Sheridan Road, Noblesville.

“Since the hearing assessments are free, it doesn’t hurt to just get it checked out if you have just an inkling of a concern about it,” Horniacek said. “Knowledge is power.”