Whether it is the echo of beeping tils in the supermarket or the coffee machine hatred in your local cafe, the brain is continuously working to decod hundreds of noise each day.

But, for some, those background noises can be so heavy that they distract them from recognizing voices or alerts.

This is a reality for a 25 -year -old administration assistant Sophie from London, which is being told that she does not listen, the zone is not out, or “little details”.

“Even though I can hear that noise is going on, I can’t hear where the noise is coming from. I know that this is the voice of the person, I can’t really calculate it quickly,” Said.

After a hearing test was normal, Sophie met a private audiologist for further testing. He was eventually diagnosed Listening resource disorder (APD), a neurological position where the brain finds it difficult to understand sounds and spoken words.

His audiologist and other England people are now calling for more research whether the situation is associated with the over-noise of noisy headphones.

After growing up in a peaceful farm in rural areas, it was not until a few years ago when Sophie started a university in London that she saw a change in her hearing – especially it was difficult to identify where a sound was from where a sound was from Was coming

She rarely participated in a person’s lecture in a person, instead of looking at them online and with subtitles.

“All the words looked like giberish when I was in the real lecture, and I was trying to listen,” she said.

It also influenced her social life and Sophie left bar and restaurant quickly due to “heavy noise”.

The cause of Sophie’s APD diagnosis is unknown, but his audiologist believes that the over-use of noisy headphones, which wears Sophie for five hours a day, may be a part to play.

Other audiologists agree, saying that their prolonged use requires more research in the possible effects of their prolonged use.

Five NHS Audiology Departments have told the BBC that they have increased the number of youth referred to from GPS with hearing issues – only tested to find their hearing when testing is done and this is done and it processes their sound The capacity of which is struggling.

APD neurodivers are more common in people, who suffer from brain injury or had a moderate-ears infection as a child. However, more patients with APD are presenting outside those categories, leaving the audiologist to question whether external factors, such as noisy headphones, are contributing.

Renny Almeeda, an adult audiology clinical lead at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, says it is important to listen to the diversity so that the brain can decide what is important to focus.

His team has seen an increase in the amount of youth referred to for hearing services in the previous year. He said: “There is a difference between listening and listening. We can see that hearing skills are suffering.”

Noisy headphones have their own benefits, especially for prolonged ear health where their soundproofing feature can prevent high frequency and loud noise from reaching and damaging the ear-so on to the music Even while listening.

Lisa Barber, the Technology Editor, on which?, Said the equipment “exploded in popularity” in recent years. But the level of transparency may vary from the model to the model.

“Some simply offer to cancel passive noise, where acoustic seal reduces the noise between the headphones and your ears,” he said. Others have a transparency mode that allows you to hear partial background noise.

But Claire Benton, vice -president of the British Academy of Audiology, suggests that by blocking everyday sounds like beeping of cars, there is a possibility that the brain may “forget” to filter the noise.

He said, “You have only created this false environment by wearing those headphones that you want to hear. You are not working on it.”

“Those more complex, high-level hearing skills in your brain are really evolving towards your late adolescence. Therefore, if you are only wearing noise-making headphones and this for your late adolescence If you are in false world, you are delaying your ability to process speech and noise, “Benton suggests.

For those who experience difficulties with sound processing in England, APD care in NHS is limited.

The UK-Wide Survey from 2024, BAA and ENT, distributed by the UK, professional body representing ear, nose and throat surgery found that only 4% of audiologists consider themselves well informed on APD.

And, for those who are 16 years and above, the Royal National ENT and Eastman Hospital are the only NHS provider at England that offers a full APD assessment and the waiting list is nine months long.

Professor Doris-Eva Bamiu, who assesses there, states that it is partly partially below for the time it takes to diagnose APD. “This is an expensive service because it is not just an audiogram, testing may take up to two hours and require additional assessment. In adults I also refer to them for cognitive evaluation and in children in children Psychological may also be required to talk to an educational.

Particularly after epidemic, the behavior and association with the visual and audio has changed. It comes in part due to new products and technology, as well as anxiety in the noise environment after lockdown.

Now it is common for people to see walking out, despite listening to the sound, despite listening to their noise-making headphones and watching online videos with subtitle. A YouGov survey has shown that 61% of children aged 18-24 like to watch TV with subtitles.

Dr. Angela is one of Alexander, audiologist and owner of APD support, a private organization, audiologists, who are especially calling for more research under the influence of noisy headphones on hearing processing in children.

“If we do not check this link, what does the future look like? There are many good parents and teachers who think that children are responding to the problem with noise that wearing ear plugs or noisy headphones Are. “

Dr, Head of Audiology at Great Ormand Street Hospital. Amjad Mahmood supported the call for more research.

He said that there has been a “significant increase in demand” for assessment at the hospital’s large APD clinic for Under -16. “Especially with difficulties seen in school”.

Treatment for APD can create a significant positive difference, some patients capable of making a complete recovery.

Training exercises on the so -called “Word in noise” mobile application have become a popular way to practice speech from background noise. But training can be different and it includes exercises with hearing discrimination, such as how to separate different sounds in words like seventy and seventeen, and free and three.

Microphones and low-profit auditory devices can also be provided to help the patient in some conditions, such as meeting or class work, but adults outside the education system are not entitled to these products on NHS.

Dr. Alexander says, “Now I can hear that there is a fan above my head, but my brain is telling me that I do not have anything that I need to worry about.”

“This is the way we identify the dangers in our environment, so it makes me understand that anxiety will increase if a person’s brain is no longer the help of those inputs that help them tell them that There is a concern and what is not. “

To improve it, Dr. Alexander has suggested to reduce the use of headphones and use transparency mode that may increase background noise and also wear headphones that do not completely close or block the ears.

Wayne Wilson, an associate professor at the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Queensland, says that there is a need to do more research on a possible link.

However, he explains that it can prove to be difficult to do controlled research with so many variables.

“Satan is in expansion because the answer probably depends on which scene, which scene, which noise, which noise can cancellation, which period of cancellation, age, etc.”.

Sophie is ready to start treatment for her epid in the next few months, and feels excited for the future.

“If I and my lover go out at once, sometimes we will leave early due to noise. After this treatment it is probably good to know, I will be able to go to busy places and handle it a little better.”