My mom can hear but not understand

[terracore]

My friend's mom had a similar problem after a minor stroke.

[ocnjgirl]

Originally Posted by Grlzrl

She keeps referring to it as her hearing problem. But I don't think it's a hearing problem. She says she can hear you but she can't understand. I think it's a neurological issue. She has a shunt in her brain because fluid was building up somehow and that was supposed to help. Has anyone ever had this issue?

It sounds like an auditory processing problem. See if she can understand when you write something down vs saying it. If so that would confirm it, and you would ask her doc to refer her to a speech therapist. We had a patient like this recently. She couldn't process commands verbally but if we wrote them down she had no problem.

[ukiyo-e]

Originally Posted by guidoLaMoto

The hearing loss we experience as we get older affects the tones on the lower end of the spectrum more than the higher...That's where the consonants tend to be, so the sspeaker's voice is loud enough to hear, but too indistinct to understand...They sound like Charlie Brown's teacher-- a trumpet slurring notes together .

Deeper males' voices are more difficult to understand than females' high pitch voices.

"Why are high frequency sounds typically the first to go in hearing loss?"

https://www.newyorkhearingdoctors.co...-of-blog-post/

[old_cold]

Originally Posted by Grlzrl

She has had hearing aids for a long time. They no longer help. I think this is a brain issue. Once, she flew home and said it resolved itself. I think it had to do with air pressure.

It came on pretty suddenly, too. She has had hearing issues for a bit longer but could use her hearing aids. But this is different. She CAN hear.

It still would be a good idea to have her/her hearing aids, checked. Even if just to rule it out.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by Grlzrl

She has had hearing aids for a long time. They no longer help. I think this is a brain issue. Once, she flew home and said it resolved itself. I think it had to do with air pressure.

It came on pretty suddenly, too. She has had hearing issues for a bit longer but could use her hearing aids. But this is different. She CAN hear.

I could hear too. Sort of. The thing is that even though I could hear when someone was talking to me, I had a difficult time making out what they were saying. More often than not, it sounded more like mumbling or someone speaking more softly. I'd often find myself asking people to repeat what they said. Somewhere along the line it dawned on me that I was having a hearing problem. I've had hearing aids for about 5 years, and I started to notice I was having a hard time clearly hearing. I went in to a hearing center for a free hearing test, and it was determined that there was a slight change in my hearing loss. The solution is for have the hearing aids adjusted to match your ability to hear more clearly again. In my case, the manufacturer of my hearing aids, no longer make that particular model, so the software to make the adjustments is no longer available. Today, hearing aids don't necessarily require a professional to make adjustments. It can be easily done by an app on your phone. The point is that hearing loss can be a gradual thing that you don't even notice. It'd be a good idea for her to have her hearing checked. Most hearing centers will do that for free, but best to check about that to be sure before making an appointment.

[cb at sea]

Hubby cannot understand women who have HIGH voices...thankfully, I don't, so he CAN understand what I'm saying. And with the masks nowadays, that really messes things up for him.