How to improve your hearing ability (with or without wearing hearing aids)

hearing in noise can be tricky

Hearing Is More Than Just Accessing Sounds

Hearing is not only about detecting sound at the ear; it is an active cognitive process involving attention, memory, prediction, and integration of visual and auditory information. This explains why many people with normal hearing can still struggle in noisy environments, and why others with measurable hearing loss may still communicate effectively without amplification. Large reviews and randomised trials show that auditory training and communication strategies can improve speech‑in‑noise understanding even when hearing sensitivity itself does not change (Fallahnezhad et al., 2023; Ockelmann et al., 2025).

1. Use Active Listening Tactics (Not Passive Hearing)

Why basic listening tactics work

Listening in noise places high demands on attention and working memory. Communication strategies help by improving the signal, reducing cognitive load, and enabling efficient conversational repair (filling in the blanks) when information is missed. A UK‑based survey study involving people with hearing loss, communication partners and clinicians identified four evidence‑based strategy themes: signal optimisation, conversational repair, preparation, and relational strategies (Perfect et al., 2025).

Practical, evidence‑based tactics (with or without hearing aids)

• Position deliberately: sit closer and face the speaker to maximise both auditory and visual input

• Ask for rephrasing, not repetition: different words often carry clearer acoustic cues

• Establish the topic early: context allows the brain to predict upcoming speech

• Use specific repair requests (“I missed the last part”) instead of general ones

Clinical guidance and qualitative research show that these strategies improve comprehension and reduce listening fatigue regardless of hearing aid use (UCSF EARS Program, 2025; Audiology.org, 2024).

2. Become Aware of Your Acoustic Surroundings

The environment matters more than most people realise

Background noise, reverberation, distance and lighting can degrade speech clarity to a degree that rivals mild‑to‑moderate hearing loss. Listening research consistently identifies external environmental modifiers as a primary influence on perceived listening ability (Hughes et al., 2022).

High‑impact environmental adjustments

• Choose quieter seating locations (booths, corners)

• Reduce competing sounds (music, TV, kitchen noise)

• Improve lighting on faces to better aid lipreading cues (avoid backlighting)

• Decrease distance between speaker and listener

These changes enhance auditory‑visual integration, benefiting listeners with and without hearing loss (Bernstein et al., 2022).

3. Learn Lipreading (Speechreading): A Trainable Skill

Lipreading is a very legitimate sensory skill

Research shows that lipreading provides fine‑grained phonetic and timing information—not guesswork. Seeing a speaker’s face significantly boosts speech understanding when sound quality is degraded (Bernstein et al., 2022). A major review in the American Journal of Audiology demonstrated that, under the right training conditions, lipreading ability can improve and generalise to audiovisual speech‑in‑noise tasks (Bernstein et al., 2022).

Why structured classes matter

Guidance from RNID highlights that adults attending lipreading classes report improvements in:

• Communication confidence

• Independence

• Ability to fill in missing speech using context

  
  

Importantly, emerging experimental evidence also shows measurable improvements in speech‑in‑noise performance following lipreading training, not only subjective benefit (RNID, 2025; HEARa, 2025).

If you live in/around Nottingham, we highly recommend lipreading tutor: Helen Barrow. Check out her website here for more service information https://www.lipreading.me.uk/

4. Train Your Auditory Brain With Speech‑in‑Noise Tasks

Auditory training is an evidence‑based skill

A systematic review and meta‑analysis of 23 clinical trials found that computer‑based auditory training produces moderate improvements in speech‑in‑noise perception in adults, although hearing thresholds remain unchanged (Fallahnezhad et al., 2023).

More recent randomised controlled trials indicate that auditory‑cognitive and multisensory training improves real‑world conversational comprehension, particularly in noisy environments (Kunnath et al., 2025; Frei and Giroud, 2025).

These improvements are attributed to neuroplasticity—the brain’s capacity to adapt through targeted practice.

Using the Ear Gym App for Daily Listening Practice

The Ear Gym app, designed by UK audiologists, targets auditory processing rather than amplification. Tasks include:

• Listening in background noise

• Auditory discrimination and memory

• Realistic everyday scenarios

  
  

The app is certified as a UK/EU Class I and FDA Class II medical device, and professional reviews describe it as a practical auditory‑training tool for adults struggling with listening in noise (ENT & Audiology News, 2023; eargym Ltd., 2025). Clinical and real‑world data suggest users may achieve improvements of approximately 20–25% in listening‑in‑noise performance following consistent short‑daily use, aligning with broader auditory‑training evidence (Medicash, 2025; Fallahnezhad et al., 2023).

Best approach: 5–10 minutes of daily speech‑in‑noise practice is more effective than infrequent longer sessions. Be consistent and your hearing ability in noise will improve!

Other auditory training apps such as LACE AI pro are also great. This app requires set up and purchase via a participating hearing clinic.

Bringing It All Together

Improving hearing without hearing aids does not mean ignoring hearing loss—it means optimising how the brain listens:

• Apply active listening and repair strategies

• Shape your acoustic environment

• Learn lipreading to support auditory processing

• Train your auditory brain daily with speech‑in‑noise tasks

  
  

These strategies are strongly supported by current research and form a core part of modern hearing rehabilitation, whether used alone or alongside hearing technology.

References

Bernstein, L.E., Jordan, N., Auer, E.T. and Eberhardt, S.P. (2022) ‘Lipreading: A review of its continuing importance for speech recognition with an acquired hearing loss and possibilities for effective training’, American Journal of Audiology, 31(2), pp. 453–469.

Fallahnezhad, T., Pourbakht, A. and Toufan, R. (2023) ‘The effect of computer‑based auditory training on speech‑in‑noise perception in adults: A systematic review and meta‑analysis’, Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, 75(4), pp. 4198–4211.

Frei, V. and Giroud, N. (2025) ‘Immersive auditory‑cognitive training improves speech‑in‑noise perception in older adults’, npj Science of Learning, 10, Article 12.

Hughes, S.E. et al. (2022) ‘Perceived listening ability and hearing loss: Systematic review and qualitative meta‑synthesis’, PLoS One, 17(10), e0276265.

Kunnath, A.J. et al. (2025) ‘Effects of multisensory simultaneity judgment training on comprehension of speech in noise: A randomised controlled trial’, Scientific Reports, 15, Article 12956.

Perfect, G. et al. (2025) ‘Responses to listening difficulty in in‑person conversation’, International Journal of Audiology.

RNID (2025) Lipreading. Available at: https://rnid.org.uk

ENT & Audiology News (2023) ‘Gain conversational confidence with these apps’.

eargym Ltd. (2025) eargym: Auditory training for hearing loss. Available at: https://www.eargym.world

Medicash (2025) ‘Eargym: A digital solution for your hearing health’.