Aiming for sound design

photo of a woman having her ear examined by a doctor, who is looking into her ear canal with a lighted scope

Fresh address, different routines: no matter how you slice it, moving into a new home is a major shift. So too is altering the home you've got by redecorating or remodeling.

Both require transitions. But one you might not expect is how adjusting to new surroundings can influence how well you hear — or don't.

If you have hearing loss, which affects about 61 million Americans ages 12 and older, moving or remodeling can make it seem worse. And if you thought your hearing was fine, you might now feel you're developing a problem. Today's home trends — favoring open floor plans, high ceilings, and sparse furnishings — can all make communication harder regardless of your hearing ability.

If the issue has never crossed your mind, you're not alone. Many people don't think about how home features can affect sound, says Dr. James Naples, an otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat specialist) at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

"Most things in our homes are there for a reason, so I don't think people buy a home, or things to put in it, considering how they will affect their hearing," he says. But "usually it's your environment that raises your awareness of the need for hearing aids."

Design consequences

Instead of needing hearing aids, however, you may simply need to push toward a "lived-in" look more quickly. Certain items absorb sound, making it easier to hear. These include

carpeting and area rugs
wainscoting or paneling
wall photos, paintings, or tapestries
curtains or draperies
bookcases
upholstered furniture
throw pillows.

"It's much easier to hear in a quiet space that has carpet, for example, than a big, open space with a hardwood floor," Dr. Naples says.

Other home features allow sound to reverberate, bouncing across spaces and making it harder to hear. These include the aforementioned hardwood floors, as well as cathedral ceilings and minimalist decor. If you already have hearing loss, this reverberation may hamper your ability to quickly process sounds, making your communication challenges that much more troublesome.

"This plays into social settings — it's why it's hard to hear in big, open restaurants," Dr. Naples says. "All those ambient sounds are just bouncing off the walls."

Additional challenges

Hearing aids don't necessarily solve this problem, since they amplify all sounds—not just the ones you wish to hear. "That's not always helpful," Dr. Naples says. "What you really want to magnify is the signal, not the noise. Most hearing aids turn up the volume of both."

So-called mechanical noise — background sound from appliances such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, and heating and air conditioning systems — can also add to the jumble.

"Generally they're so low-volume, there's no way they harm the ears," he acknowledges. "But if someone has hearing loss, any sort of background noise is going to create slightly more difficulty hearing. If there's a lot of ambient noise — the fan is on over the stove, the microwave is running, the fridge is always on — and someone tries to talk to you, it can be pretty tough to hear that, because the noise volume drowns out the signal. That's what always makes the kitchen a tough place to hear."

Age-related hearing loss differs between the sexes

While women are only half as likely as men to have hearing loss, age is the strongest predictor of the condition among adults ages 20 to 69, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. But a new study suggests that certain factors linked with developing age-related hearing loss differ between the sexes.

The analysis, published online March 6, 2024, by PLOS One, involved nearly 2,350 adults 60 and older (53% women). Researchers gathered participants' medical history and tested their blood, body composition, and hearing. Using the data, they identified factors most strongly associated with the risk of age-related hearing loss in women and men.

Being underweight or, conversely, obese was a significant risk factor for hearing loss among older women, while only being underweight showed the same association for older men. Men who smoked appeared more prone to age-related hearing loss, but not women who did the same. Meanwhile, women who began menstruating at earlier ages were less likely to develop age-related hearing loss later in life, possibly suggesting a protective effect from prolonged estrogen exposure.

While the findings are intriguing, any large data set will generate "small enough variations that show up as significant" but aren't useful on a practical level, says Dr. James Naples, an ear, nose, and throat specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The only sex-related difference Dr. Naples believes is worth paying attention to has nothing to do with risk factors for hearing loss, but rather how women and men follow up on any noticeable changes in hearing.

"There's some evidence that women are more likely to get their hearing evaluated or their hearing loss investigated," he says. "When I ask what brings my male patients in, probably over half say, 'Oh, my wife made me do it.' Men tend to come because they were told to. Women are more likely to come without being prompted."

Because of this trend, Dr. Naples recommends that women nudge their male partners and relatives to follow their lead. "That insight is important, because it will hopefully promote getting your hearing tested, even if you don't think you have a problem," he says

Sound-friendly strategies

The best time to address a home's acoustics is when it's being built or remodeled. At these key points, you can arrange with your contractor to design your space with sound-friendly features. Higher-end accommodations can include acoustic tiles for the ceiling or floor. But you can also avoid elements that detract from sound quality, such as hardwood flooring, without shelling out more money.

"If you have hearing loss and you have the ability to influence some of those measures beforehand, doing that is going to be helpful," Dr. Naples says.

Try these tactics to prevent acoustic problems or improve your ability to hear in your home:

Install carpeting. Wall-to-wall works more effectively in these circumstances than area rugs, some of which can also pose falling risks. If you do opt for area rugs, use nonslip rug pads to help keep them in place.

Use door sweeps. In addition to blocking drafts, they have the benefit of diminishing sounds.

Add furniture. Additional pieces, especially upholstered ones, absorb sound better than hard-surfaced, all-wood or all-metal choices.

Favor fabric. Heavy draperies promote hearing more effectively than thin curtains or shades. Even adding tablecloths can help.

Put up a room divider. Easy to find in stores and online, these screenlike accessories can put a stop to reverberating sounds in large spaces.

Regardless of your surroundings, you can also enhance your hearing ability by

making sure the person you're speaking to is in the same room
looking directly at someone while communicating
sitting with your back to the wall "so sound directed toward you is not entering this big, open space, where a lot will get lost," Dr. Naples says.

When is it time to see an audiologist? If your hearing ability seems to change once you've adjusted to your new surroundings, see a hearing specialist, especially if a family member also points out the problem. "That's usually the indicator to me — or when you need to turn up the volume on the TV or speakers," Dr. Naples says.