remember kids, wear your earplugs

[anotheranon]

Most of you who know me in person have probably run up against my inability to carry on a phone conversation and in-person conversation at the same time, or realized that the reason I sometimes fall silent at parties is because I can't pick out the different voices from the many.

For a long time I wrote this off as an unfortunate inability to concentrate on my part, but a few recent incidents have made me concerned that it's getting worse:

The "white noise" of the metro or heat coming on interferes with my ability to hear anything on my phone - yes, I've got the volume cranked up.

Sitting in a circle of ~4 people, I can't follow the conversation if there's ANY background noise.

Across a crowded room, shouting doesn't really reach - I need to be standing right there to distinguish what's being said.

So..

I'm going to an audiologist next week for a hearing test and try to figure out whether I'm genuinely poor at aural multitasking or whether my hearing is physically damaged.

I'm really irritated by this, because if EITHER case is true I'm not sure how to fix this. I love good conversation and it sucks when I can't keep up :(

Comments

[seamstrix.livejournal.com]

I too am finding that ambient noise levels make it difficult for me to distinguish what is being said. I can hear that the person is talking but the words are garbled/indistinct. It hasn't gotten to the point where I'm going to an audiologist, but it's noticable.

Getting old sucks.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

It may or may not be age-related...it could be something organic, as I found a few years ago...:(

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

I think you described it far more succinctly than I did above - it's ambient noise that's getting to be a problem. It's not that it seems louder, it's that the stuff I'm actually TRYING to hear blends in with it :(

Perhaps it is age; I strongly suspect at least some of it is due to loud concerts as a teenager. By college I was wearing earplugs most of the time, but these things have impact down the line :(